29 August 2013 Last updated at 09:08 GMT
US President Obama: 'No decision yet' on Syria strike
US President Barack Obama has said he has not yet decided on a plan for retaliatory action against Syria.
But he said he had concluded Syrian government forces were behind a recent chemical weapons attack near Damascus.
Speaking on US television, Mr Obama said the use of chemical weapons affected US national interests and that sending a "shot across the bows" could have a positive impact on Syria's war.
His comments follow a day of behind-the-scenes wrangling at the UN.
The UK had been pushing for permanent members of the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution which would have authorised measures to protect civilians in Syria.
Indian Mujahideen leader Yasin Bhatkal captured by security forces
One of India's most wanted Islamic militants arrested after international manhunt ends on border with Nepal
One of India's most wanted Islamic extremists has been arrested in a security forces operation on the border with Nepal.
Yasin Bhatkal is accused of involvement in a string of recent attacks including a 2010 blast at a bakery patronised by international tourists in the city of Pune that killed nine and injured 60.
The 30-year-old is said to be one of the founders of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) militant organisation. "Yasin Bhatkal has been traced and detained ... His interrogation is going on," Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters in Delhi on Thursday morning.
INTELLIGENCE
GCHQ reported to have access to almost all European internet traffic
Britain's GCHQ is reported to have wider access to Europe's electronic communications than previously thought. The media reports are based partly on documents released by former US intelligence officer Edward Snowden.
The reports published by public broadcaster NDR and the Süddeutsche newspaper said documents made available to them by Edward Snowden indicate that Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is capable of gathering and analyzing data from almost all of the traffic that passes through Europe's internet network.
UN peacekeepers attacked in Darfur again
Peacekeepers came under fire in Sudan's Darfur region while they searched for colleagues missing in a flood, the mission said, reporting the third attack this month against Blue Helmets.
The attack by "unknown armed men" happened on Tuesday about seven kilometres (four miles) northeast of Misterei, a West Darfur town near the border with Chad, said Rania Abdulrahman, a media officer with the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
The peacekeepers repelled the assailants and there were no casualties, she said, adding that the search continues for four missing UNAMID troops who were swept away in a flash flood on Sunday.
Violence in Darfur and against UNAMID has worsened this year.
Three peacekeepers were shot and wounded on Monday in East Darfur, in an area where two Arab tribes fought deadly battles this month.
Once a US school bus, now a Central American taxi
From Guatemala to Nicaragua, the iconic yellow buses are living out their waning days ferrying commuters across cities big and small.
Students across the United States are climbing onto the iconic yellow school buses rolling through subdivisions and down city streets this week as the school year kicks off.
But hundreds of miles away in Central America, school buses “retired” from their scholastic routes in the US go on to jam-packed second lives.
“We reuse them until they’re dead,” says Fredys Aguilar, a Salvadoran businessman who has been importing American school buses for more than 20 years.
From El Salvador to Guatemala, from Nicaragua to Honduras, former US school buses take on a new life shuttling people – often packed tight – across cities big and small. In some places, like Guatemala, there’s an impressive art that goes into refurbishing the vehicles.
Southeast Asia
Aug 29, '13
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Visions of a democratic Vietnam
By Khanh Vu Duc
By Khanh Vu Duc
As calls for political reform and democracy mount in Vietnam, questions are being asked over what kind of political system could replace the old. However, the main objective of Vietnam’s harried activists remains ensuring that any transition from authoritarianism to more representative governance is not exploited by those Communist Party officials who seek power for themselves.
A recent move to amend the constitution by the Communist Party sparked a firestorm of debate on Vietnam’s blogosphere, leading to many outspoken calls for a full-blown democratic revolution. While there is no indication that communist leaders intend to yield
power, there is a growing recognition that the prevailing political system, forged in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, must change.
A recent move to amend the constitution by the Communist Party sparked a firestorm of debate on Vietnam’s blogosphere, leading to many outspoken calls for a full-blown democratic revolution. While there is no indication that communist leaders intend to yield
power, there is a growing recognition that the prevailing political system, forged in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, must change.
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