TOKYO (AFP) – Greenpeace chief Kumi Naidoo on Friday likened Japan's treatment of two of its anti-whaling activists to the tactics of the former apartheid regime he once campaigned against in his native South Africa.
The activists, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, face possible jail terms Monday for stealing a box of whale meat, which [...]

MAPUTO, Mozambique – Mozambique’s government says the economy lost more than $3 million because of two days of violent protests over rising prices.
State radio, quoting a government report, said Friday that the losses included damaged property and lost production.
Antonio Fernando, the minister of trade and industry, told the radio that among those hardest [...]

LISBON, Portugal – A judge has started reading out a Portuguese court’s verdicts on more than 800 alleged crimes in a major child sex abuse trial that has lasted nearly six years.
Six men and one woman are accused of sexually abusing minors and adolescents, raping children and running a pedophile ring at a state-run [...]

In one of the more unfortunate developments attending the catastrophic floods in Pakistan, the country’s religious minorities are being denied relief and aid – and being attacked by extremists belonging to the country’s Sunni majority even as the faithful mark the holy month of Ramadan.
Thumping their chests as they wailed, thousands of Shi’ite Muslims [...]

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned Friday from the resumption of Mideast negotiations in Washington to confront internal opposition to his peace moves, just as his Palestinian counterpart faced harsh criticism for agreeing to the talks at all.
Analysts on both sides questioned the ability and desire of their leaders to negotiate a [...]

A group of Republican lawmakers is urging California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to appeal a federal ruling that struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban.
Twenty-seven members of the Assembly’s Republican caucus sent Schwarzenegger a letter Tuesday saying it was up to the governor to defend the rights of voters who passed Proposition 8 almost [...]

SEOUL, South Korea – The death toll from Typhoon Kompasu, which battered the Korean peninsula with strong winds and heavy rains, rose to five in South Korea, an official said Friday.
The typhoon struck Seoul the day before, toppling trees, streetlights and scaffolding in what was called the strongest storm to hit the capital area [...]

BOGOTA, Colombia – Suspected leftist rebels killed 14 police officers and wounded seven in an ambush of a five-truck convoy in southern Colombia, a police commander said Thursday.
Elsewhere in the country, two separate mine blasts on Wednesday and Thursday killed four soldiers and wounded six more, authorities reported.
The police casualties were among 45 [...]

MELBOURNE/TORONTO (Reuters) – Chinese and other investors have approached at least one big Canadian pension manager about a bid for Canada's Potash Corp to rival BHP Billiton's $39 billion hostile offer.
The disclosure by Alberta Investment Management Corp, which manages some C$70 billion ($67 billion) in public sector pension funds, is one of the first [...]

LONDON (AFP) – Fabio Capello launches his quest for redemption on Friday knowing only a convincing victory by a makeshift England team over Bulgaria can hush a growing band of critics clamouring for his dismissal.
After an extended honeymoon where Capello was lauded for presiding over an imperious World Cup qualifying campaign, a familiar storyline [...]