World News - Asia communications hit by quake

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Telecommunications across Asia have been severely disrupted because of damage to undersea cables caused by Tuesday's earthquake near Taiwan. Banks and businesses in Taiwan, South Korea, China and Japan reported telephone and internet problems. The earthquake, a magnitude 7.1 according to the US Geological Survey, struck off Taiwan's southern coast Two people were killed and at least 42 injured in the temblor, which shook buildings across the island. The earthquake took place at 2026 (1226 GMT) south-west of Hengchun. It was followed by a number of aftershocks. Japan's Meteorological Agency had warned of a possible localised tsunami heading towards the Philippines, but nothing was later reported. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk

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Editor - 08:47:00 12-27-06

Newly confident Germany takes over EU presidency, G-8 chair

For Germany, 2006 was a year of unexpected successes: Its economy started booming after years of stagnation, its soccer team reached the semifinal of the World Cup, and its untested new leader Angela Merkel proved herself to be a stateswoman to be reckoned with.Now, expectations are high that Germany will be able to translate that momentum into results when it takes over the leadership of the European Union and the chairmanship of the Group of Eight industrial powers on Jan. 1.Germany has long contented itself to being an economic powerhouse while remaining merely a loyal team player in international politics through NATO and the EU — a reticence partly rooted in its Nazi past. But it has shown itself to be increasingly ready to get involved on the world stage — with Merkel launching diplomatic initiatives on everything from Middle East peace to resolving the EU's budget dispute last year....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-12-27-germans_x.htm?csp=34

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Editor - 08:45:00 12-27-06

Saddam To Iraqis: Don't Hate The Invaders

In an Internet letter in the name of Saddam Hussein, the deposed dictator has called on Iraqis not to hate the invaders of their country. "I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking," Saddam said in the letter published on a Web site known to represent the Baath Party. "I also call on you not to hate the people of the other countries that attacked us and who separated the people and from those who govern them," Saddam wrote. In Amman, a member of Saddam Hussein's legal team, Issam Ghazzawi, confirmed to The Associated Press that the letter was authentic, saying it was written by Saddam on Nov. 5 but released on Tuesday and published on the party's Web site on Wednesday. ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/27/iraq/main2299879.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2299879

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Editor - 08:39:00 12-27-06

Congo activists fined for forgery

Two leading anti-corruption campaigners in Congo-Brazzaville have been found guilty of forgery and breach of trust. Both say the trial is an attempt to intimidate them. Christian Mounzéo and Brice Mackosso were given two month suspended prison sentences and fines of $600 each by the court in the second city, Pointe-Noire. The few hundred people packed into the small courtroom to hear the short judgment being read out expressed shock and surprise at the verdict. Friends said they were astonished the men could have been found guilty of breach of trust and forgery when the international organisations who had given the money in question had vouched in court for the men's innocence. Christian Mounzéo said afterwards the verdict had been expected. "We know that the government has used justice as an instrument to prosecute human rights defenders so we are not surprised about this judgement," he told the BBC. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6212659.stm

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Editor - 08:34:00 12-27-06

Pope meets with Iranian foreign minister at Vatican

Pope Benedict XVI met on Wednesday with Iran's foreign minister and received a message from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Vatican said.The Vatican did not release details of the content of Ahmadinejad's letter, but Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said the note focused on Saturday's U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Tehran, in the standoff over Iran's nuclear program.Benedict and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met briefly after the Pope's general audience at the Vatican's Paul VI hall, the Vatican said.During the talks, the Pope "reaffirmed the role that the Holy See intends to carry out for world peace, not as a political authority but as a religious and moral one... so that peoples' problems will always be solved in dialogue, mutual understanding and peace," the Vatican said in a statement....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-12-27-vatican_x.htm?csp=34

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Editor - 08:32:00 12-27-06

Ethiopians nearing Somali capital

Ethiopian and Somali government forces are advancing towards Somalia's capital Mogadishu, which is currently held by the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). Earlier, they seized the strategic town of Jowhar, 90km from the capital, from Islamist militias during a dawn attack. At the weekend Ethiopia began a major offensive against the UIC, which held much of central and southern Somalia. Jowhar is a former UIC stronghold, and its loss leaves the Islamists with control of little more than the coast. The Ethiopian and pro-government Somali troops are reported to be only 30km from Mogadishu. In Jowhar, residents told the BBC they had seen government forces riding on top of Ethiopian armoured vehicles. The UIC still holds Mogadishu, and the southern port city of Kismayo. Leaders of the militia have admitted pulling out of many towns. Reports suggest that the Islamists evacuated many towns without putting up a fight. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6211573.stm

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