BELFAST, Northern Ireland –
, the next key step in making their Catholic-Protestant government work.
next month. The long-debated move would put law and order back into local hands for the first time since Northern Ireland’s descent into civil war four decades ago.
The British, Irish and American governments long have pressed for former Belfast [...]

Goodluck Jonathan, Nig­eria’s acting president, has landed a significant blow in the struggle for control of the world’s 10th biggest oil exporter by sacking a security chief and reinstating a wily spymaster.
Less than 48 hours after Sunday’s ethnic violence had claimed hundreds of lives in the central city of Jos, Mr Jonathan dismissed Abdullahi Sarki [...]

Istanbul, Turkey –
Tehran stepped up its diplomatic push to avoid a new set of
on Tuesday, calling on China not to buckle under pressure from a US-led effort to slap a fourth round of
on Tehran over its nuclear program.
“China is a great country which enjoys enough power to pursue its own decisions independently [...]

BRASILIA, Brazil – Brazil’s president warned Tuesday that U.S.-proposed
.
so much that tensions would spiral out of control. And that, he suggested, might lead to war.
,” Silva said, a week after rebuffing U.S. Secretary
’s appeal for Brazilian support for a new round of tough sanctions.
Iran has accelerated its disputed nuclear program [...]

and sets punishments of up to three months in prison for offenders, his office said.
The bill, passed by the federal parliament in January, becomes law with Zardari's signature. In addition to imprisonment, lesser punishments include sacking or demotion.
The “president has signed the 'Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace bill 2010',” an [...]

William Ruto greets his visitors with a customary Kenyan “welcome”, but he is not always pleased to see them. “Why do you want to interview me?” he asks the Financial Times.
Because you are a central player in Kenyan politics, he is told. “That’s not true,” replies the senior cabinet minister. “I’m a player, but [...]

opened an inquiry Tuesday into claims that its soldiers murdered and abused civilians in southern Iraq in 2004, some of the most serious allegations made against British forces over the war and occupation of the country.
Several Iraqis claim they were abused at a base called Camp Abu Naji in Maysan province after a battle [...]

Germany and France are stepping up the pressure for urgent action by the European Union to regulate speculation in sovereign debt markets, in the wake of the Greek debt crisis.
Angela Merkel, German chancellor, called on Tuesday for the “fastest possible” adoption of new rules to clamp down on the most speculative elements of derivatives trading, [...]

The award of an Oscar to a documentary against dolphin hunting has dealt Japan a public relations blow just as it faces growing pressure on other aspects of its exploitation of maritime resources.
In recent weeks, Tokyo has been confronted with an Australian ultimatum over its annual whale hunt in Antarctic waters and is risking increasing [...]

STOCKHOLM – A dozen centuries-old shipwrecks — some of them unusually well-preserved — have been found in the Baltic sea by a gas company building an underwater pipeline between Russia and Germany, Swedish experts said Tuesday.
The oldest wreck probably dates back to medieval times and could be up to 800 years old, while the [...]