Durban climate deal struck after tense all-night session
Talks came close to collapse when India insisted on concessions for developing countries, forcing 3am 'huddle to save the planet'
A new global climate deal was struck early Sunday morning after being brought back from the brink of disaster by three powerful women politicians in a 20-minute "huddle to save the planet".
A major crisis had been provoked after 3am when the EU clashed furiously with China and India over the legal form of a potential new treaty. The EU plan to bind all countries to cuts was close to collapse after India inserted the word's "legal outcome" at the last minute into the negotiating text.
EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard, backed by UK energy secretary Chris Huhne, would have made the EU plan legally meaningless and would have forced the EU to walk away, effectively collapsing the negotiations.
Manuel Noriega flown home to Panama
Manuel Noriega, Panama's military dictator of the 1980s, left Paris early on Sunday, headed for prison in his home country to serve a 20-year term for the murders of opponents during his rule.
9:10AM GMT 11 Dec 2011
Noriega, now 77, was toppled in a US invasion of Panama in 1989 and has spent the last two decades behind bars, first in Florida and then in France after being convicted for drug trafficking and money laundering during his time in power.
Panama's Attorney General and a doctor are part of the team accompanying Noriega on a commercial flight back to his homeland via Madrid.
He boarded a plane at about 7.30am local time (0630 GMT) after leaving Paris' La Sante prison in a police convoy, and was due to arrive in Panama Sunday evening.
Good heavens, it's a dream come true
December 11, 2011
I HAVE always been fascinated with the arbitrary nature of the world we live in. Why are there still seven days in a week, or 52 weeks in a year? Our modern world is built at least in part on ancient ones: those calendars date back to ancient Mesopotamia, where they were of religious import. Time is fascinating: a day so short, a life so long. And our little tinpot year, composed of a mere 365 days - the period our planet takes to orbit the sun. Supposing we lived on a planet whose orbit round its sun took 5000 years. What then?
Egypt army affirms parliament role over constitution
Reuters | 11 December, 2011 11:45
The army has said only parliament will choose the make-up of a constituent assembly, appearing to retreat from earlier statements that riled Islamists and others when a general said unelected bodies would have a role in the selection process.
Under an interim constitution, parliament is responsible for picking the 100-strong assembly that will write a new constitution to replace one that helped keep Hosni Mubarak in power for three decades.
But a general last week had suggested parliament's role would be diluted by saying the army-backed cabinet, a consultative body to the ruling generals and parliament, would first agree on criteria for selection before any appointment.
Legal effort over injured American seeks compensation of Israel
Tristan Anderson of Oakland visited Israel and the West Bank in 2009 with his girlfriend to see the Mideast conflict. At a pro-Palestinian rally he was hurt by a border guard's tear-gas canister.
December 11, 2011
Tristan Anderson visited Israeland the West Bank in 2009 with his girlfriend, a Jewish American activist, to participate in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and see the Mideast conflict firsthand.
The Oakland man left with brain damage, partial paralysis and blindness in one eye after being hit in the head with a high-velocity tear-gas canister during a protest against Israel'sseparation barrier in the West Bank village of Nilin.
Now Anderson, 40, and his parents are pressing the Israeli government to pay for his rehabilitation and 24-hour care in a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit.
The Oakland man left with brain damage, partial paralysis and blindness in one eye after being hit in the head with a high-velocity tear-gas canister during a protest against Israel'sseparation barrier in the West Bank village of Nilin.
Now Anderson, 40, and his parents are pressing the Israeli government to pay for his rehabilitation and 24-hour care in a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit.
Yemen leader will choose war, not quit: Nobel winner
By Gwladys Fouche and Balazs Koranyi
The world's conscience should be haunted for its failure to help the democratic uprising in Yemen, where PresidentAli Abdullah Saleh will choose civil war rather than quit, said an activist accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on Saturday.
Speaking after receiving the prize at a ceremony in Oslo, 32-year-old Yemeni journalist Tawakul Karman said Saleh, who promised last month to stand down by February, "will not leave. He wants to (push) the country into civil war."
"If the international community does not freeze his money and that of high officials and his family, he will continue to try to (lead) the country into civil war," she told Reuters in an interview in Oslo.
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