World

CAIRO,  (Reuters) – Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, called yesterday for a national dialogue after deadly clashes around his palace, where demonstrators responded by demanding the “downfall of the regime”, using the chants that brought down Hosni Mubarak.

DHAKA, (Reuters) – Sweating and trembling as he fielded questions about last month’s killer fire at one of his factories in Bangladesh, Delwar Hossain insisted he had no idea the workshop was making clothes for Wal-Mart Stores Inc when it went up in flames.

BEIRUT/DUBLIN,  (Reuters) – The two superpowers divided by Syria’s civil war met head to head yesterday, with signs emerging that Russia might curb its support for President Bashar al-Assad and Washington saying events were gathering speed on the ground.

GUATEMALA CITY,  (Reuters) – Software guru John McAfee, fighting deportation to Belize, was rushed to a hospital in Guatemala yesterday shortly after his asylum request was rejected, but a suspected heart attack turned out to be stress in a fresh twist to the saga.

CAIRO, (Reuters) – Islamists battled with protesters outside Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi’s palace yesterday, after his vice president suggested amendments could be agreed to the draft constitution that has divided the nation.

(Trinidad Guardian) After 21 days, Dr Wayne Kublalsingh’s hunger strike over the disputed Debe to Mon Desir extension of the Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin ended at 6.30 pm last evening.

CAIRO,  (Reuters) – Egyptian police battled thousands of protesters outside President Mohamed Mursi’s palace in Cairo yesterday, prompting the Islamist leader to leave the building, presidency sources said.

BEIRUT, (Reuters) – By day, the streets of Syria’s capital are crowded with cars and with shoppers.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – British explorer Tullow Oil said yesterday the Zaedyus-2 appraisal well in French Guiana had not found any commercial hydrocarbons, dampening hopes of a large new oil field offshore the South American country.

(Trinidad Express) Highway hunger striker Dr Wayne Kublalsingh has agreed to conditionally accept the draft proposal submitted by the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) and the Works and Infrastructure Ministry.

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM, (Reuters) – The Netherlands and Belgium are two countries that pride themselves on progressive laws and open societies, but critics say they are stuck in the dark ages when it comes to depictions of Santa Claus and his helpers.

UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – Cocaine trafficking through drug hub Guinea Bissau is spreading unabated amid turmoil sparked by an April military coup that has slashed the West African country’s key cashew crop and almost halved its economic growth, the United Nations said.

OSLO,  (Reuters) – Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit secretly travelled to India in order to care for infant twins born to the surrogate mother of a gay palace employee unable to get a travel visa, the palace said on Monday.

JERUSALEM  (Reuters) – Israel rejected concerted criticism from the United States and Europe yesterday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to expand settlement building after the United Nations’ de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood.

CAIRO/BEIRUT  (Reuters) – A Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, who was the most public face of Bashar al-Assad’s government as it battled a 20-month-old uprising, has fled the country, a diplomat in the region said yesterday.

HANOI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India has declared itself ready to deploy naval vessels to the South China Sea to protect its oil-exploration interests there, a potential new escalation of tensions in a disputed area where fears of armed conflict have been growing steadily.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Former US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney yesterday joined the board of US hotel company Marriott International Inc, in one of his first public moves since his unsuccessful bid to unseat Democratic President Barack Obama.

MOSCOW/BEIJING (Reuters) – Russia and China urged North Korea yesterday not to go ahead with a plan for its second rocket launch of 2012, with Moscow saying any such move would violate restrictions imposed by the UN Security Council.

LONDON  (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine are expecting a baby, destined to be the country’s future monarch, although the mother-to-be is in hospital with a type of very acute morning sickness that sometimes indicates twins.

CAIRO, (Reuters) – Protests by Islamists allied to President Mohamed Mursi forced Egypt’s highest court to adjourn its work indefinitely yesterday, intensifying a conflict between some of the country’s top judges and the head of state.