Saturday, August 21, 2010
International Headlines
>TOP STORIES as of 0900 GMT -- 21 August, 2010
> POLLS CLOSE IN AUSTRALIAN ELECTION 'CLIFF-HANGER'
Polls have closed after a day of voting in Australia's closely
fought election to decide if incumbent leader Julia Gillard
should stay or move aside for Liberal leader Tony Abbott.
> CHINA: 50,000 EVACUATED AFTER FLOODS
Officials in northeastern China have evacuated more than 50,000
people as floodwaters collapse houses and cut off transportation
in some areas, state media reported Saturday.
> SAUDI ARABIA SEEKS PARALYSIS PENALTY
Amnesty International on Friday urged Saudi Arabian authorities
not to paralyze a man as punishment for his having paralyzed
someone else, allegedly during a fight.
> JEAN REJECTED IN HAITI PRESIDENTIAL BID
Haitian election officials have rejected hip-hop singer Wyclef
Jean's bid to run for president of the Caribbean nation.
> PALESTINIANS, ISRAEL AGREE TO TALKS
The Palestinian Authority and Israel have agreed to hold direct
peace talks "without preconditions" beginning September 2 in
Washington -- the first such talks since 2008.
> NOKIA SIEMENS SUED IN IRAN CASE
Nokia Siemens Networks said Friday it rejects a lawsuit filed in
a U.S. court by a jailed Iranian journalist and his son, who
have accused the European telecommunications company of
providing the Iranian government the tools to spy on its own
citizens.
> DOZENS OF WHALES DIE ON NZ BEACH
New Zealand conservation officials are planning another attempt
to refloat at least 15 pilot whales that were part of a larger
group that beached themselves early Friday.
> ISRAEL: PLANNED FLOTILLA A 'PROVOCATION'
Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday a planned
Gaza-bound aid flotilla from Lebanon "has nothing to do with
humanitarian aid and is an act of hostile provocation."
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BUSINESS
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> U.S. WARNS ON FROZEN MAMEY FRUIT PULP
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers on Friday not
to eat frozen mamey fruit pulp -- sold under the La Nuestra
and Goya brands -- after at least nine people in California and
Nevada fell ill with typhoid fever.
> RIO VOWS TO PUSH AHEAD WITH BHP VENTURE
Tom Albanese, chief executive of Rio Tinto, insisted on Friday
the miner would push ahead with its controversial Australian
iron ore joint venture with BHP Billiton, denying a report that
the deal was facing collapse.
> EMERGING ECONOMIES UPEND OIL DEMAND
Emerging economies have upended the long-standing pattern of
global oil consumption, according to the west's energy watchdog,
in a further sign of how countries such as China are
transforming commodities markets.
