21 February 2014 Last updated at 09:16
Ukraine crisis: Yanukovych announces 'peace deal'
Ukraine's president says he has reached a deal with the opposition to end the crisis, after all-night talks mediated by three EU foreign ministers.
Viktor Yanukovych's statement said the agreement would be signed later.
However, the French foreign minister voiced caution, saying the deal was not definitive, and the opposition has not confirmed Mr Yanukovych's claim.
Protesters and police are still locked in a stand-off in Kiev, a day after dozens were killed in violent clashes.
Hours after Mr Yanukovych announced the deal, more violence was reported in central Kiev.
The police said they had traded gunfire with protesters, and Ukrainian media said riot police were patrolling inside parliament during a session.
The protests first erupted in late November when President Yanukovych rejected a landmark association and trade deal with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia.
Tough austerity measures in Greece leave nearly a million people with no access to healthcare, leading to soaring infant mortality, HIV infection and suicide
First round of Iran nuclear talks ends in positive fashion, say parties
Talks over Iran's nuclear program have made a "good start," according to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. A second round of talks is scheduled to begin on March 17.
Iran and top diplomats from Britain, China, the United States, Germany, France and Russia met in Vienna this week, with the first stage of talks ending on Thursday. A six-month freeze of certain nuclear-related activities in Iran was agreed in an interim deal in November and is in place until July 20, though that can be extended.
The six world powers at the negotiation table want Iran to curb its nuclear program to reduce concerns it could use their stocks for the production of weaponry. Limiting Iran's ability to produce enriched uranium or plutonium, which can be used in missile warheads, is key. Should an agreement be reached, billions of dollars worth of US and EU sanctions will be lifted.
Iran is resisting cuts and have insisted their program is not aimed at building weapons. Both sides acknowledge there is much to do before a final agreement is reached.
Tunisian pardoned for Mohammed caricature to stay in jail: lawyer
A Tunisian jailed for posting caricatures of Prophet Mohammed online is to remain in prison despite a presidential pardon, pending a separate trial for "embezzlement", his lawyer said Thursday.
"I contacted the judge investigating the case at the court in Mahdia who confirmed the embezzlement charges relating to when Jabeur (Mejri) worked for the SNCFT (Tunisian railways)," Ahmed Mselmi told AFP.
The judge issued a warrant for him to remain in detention on January 9, the lawyer added, even though the case dates back to "well before Jabbeur's imprisonment" in March 2012.
Mejri, 29, was sentenced to seven and half years in jail for posting cartoons of the Muslim prophet on his Facebook page, in a case that sparked heated controversy in Tunisia, with secular opposition and human rights groups campaigning for his release.
What's up with WhatsApp? Mexico City sheds some light. (+video)
WhatsApp is the most popular texting service in Mexico. Now Facebook declared it has a market value in the billions.
Upon arriving in Mexico City last fall and stepping into this megalopolis for the first time in nearly three years, I noticed a few changes: More express buses zipping along dedicated lanes, fewer bootleg DVD salesmen hawking Hollywood flicks, and subway riders staring into the screens of their smartphones.
I grabbed a meal with a friend shortly after touching down. She asked me if I had WhatsApp yet.
What?
"You don't have Whats?" she said scoldingly, as if I were someone who'd gone to the beach without sunscreen.
It’s the most popular texting service in Mexico, and as of yesterday Facebook declared that it has a market value in the billions. The smartphone app, which is little known in the US but widely used across Latin Americaand the developing world, was purchased by the social network for $19 billion. That’s over twice what Microsoftpaid for Skype in 2011.
China’s latest anti-graft crusade gives liquor industry a hangover
McClatchy Foreign Staff
BEIJING — The snapshots were once commonplace: Chinese generals hoisting glasses of booze at lavish banquets that few of China’s 1.3 billion people could imagine attending.
The elite official banquets haven’t disappeared, but they’re fewer in number, far less visible and reportedly much more sober. To shore up the legitimacy of his Communist Party, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has enacted a government austerity campaign. It appears to be paying dividends for Xi, but not for those who have a financial interest in China’s national liquor, moutai.
Moutai is a high-end form of baijiu, a sorghum-based spirit of various “fragrances” that’s dreaded by many Western visitors but beloved by Chinese men. Government banquets and business lunches once were known to feature several rounds of moutai, lubricating the proceedings and driving up the price of the country’s top brand, Kweizhou Moutai.
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