World

(Reuters) – Dead silence. For nearly 20 minutes on the morning of Facebook Inc’s trading debut last Friday, the line Nasdaq had opened up to keep traders informed about the social media company’s $16 billion IPO had been mute.

BONN,  (Reuters) – More than 180 countries agreed on an agenda for work on a new climate treaty by 2015 at United Nations climate talks yesterday, breaking a deadlock over procedure, but mistrust remains that could threaten progress for the rest of the year.

EDINBURGH, (Reuters) – With rousing speeches, patriotic music and support from actor Sean Connery, supporters of independence for Scotland launched a campaign yesterday which they hope will lead to the demise of a 305-year-old union with England and the breakup of Britain.

LONDON, (Reuters) – A Venezuelan oil tanker is returning to Venezuela from Syria with a cargo of naphtha, shipping records showed on Thursday, after delivering badly needed diesel early this week as Western sanctions, causing severe shortages, hurt Syria’s economy.

BAGHDAD, (Reuters) – Iran and world powers agreed to meet again in Moscow next month for more talks to try to end the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme, but there was scant progress to resolve the main sticking points between the two sides.

LONDON, (Reuters) – One of Britain’s most respected journalists said today that former tabloid newspaper editor Piers Morgan showed him how to hack into phones 10 years ago, the latest twist in a scandal that has so far centred on Rupert Murdoch.

LIMA, (Reuters) – The mystery surrounding the deaths of at least 877 dolphins in Peru deepened yesterday as the government said human activity was not to blame but failed to pinpoint a natural cause for the massive die-off.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Mexico extradited to the United States an alleged drug kingpin who has testified that high-ranking military officers worked with drug cartels, Mexican officials said Wednesday.

BAGHDAD, (Reuters) – Iran and world powers exchanged unusually detailed proposals at talks in Baghdad yesterday in hopes of defusing a long standoff over suspicions Tehran’s atomic energy programme may be a disguised quest for nuclear weapons.

(Reuters) – The Los Angeles City Council voted yesterday to ban the use of plastic bags in grocery stores, setting the stage to become the largest American city to date to implement such a measure.

PARIS,  (Reuters) – At his first meeting of EU leaders, with the hotly contested issue of shared euro-zone debt top of his discussion list, France’s new president made it clear yesterday that he intends to stand up to Berlin on European policy.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, (Reuters) – Pakistani authorities have sentenced a doctor accused of helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden to 33 years in jail on charges of treason, officials said, a move almost certain to further strain ties between Washington and Islamabad.

JOHANNESBURG,  (Reuters) – Western investors have to realise South Africa does not need their money since it can turn increasingly to fellow BRICS members India and China to fund its economic development, the Secretary-General of its ruling ANC said yesterday.

JAKARTA,  (Reuters) – Indonesia’s progress in reforming its forestry sector will not be sufficient to meet its pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2020, Norway’s environment minister said yesterday.

VIENNA – The U.N. nuclear watchdog director said on Tuesday he expected to sign a deal with Iran soon to unblock an investigation into suspected work on atom bombs, potentially brightening prospects for big-power talks with Tehran to stop a drift toward conflict.

SANTO DOMINGO, (Reuters) – The leading opposition candidate in the Dominican Republic’s presidential election conceded defeat yesterday but defiantly stood by his claim that the country’s vote was plagued by irregularities.

SANAA (Reuters) – A suicide bomber in army uniform killed more than 90 soldiers in the heart of the Yemeni capital yesterday and an al Qaeda affiliate threatened more attacks if a US-backed campaign against militants in the front-line state did not stop.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – One or more unauthorized users gained access to the inner workings of a website run by the US Justice Department, a department spokeswoman said yesterday after the hacker group Anonymous said they were behind the incident.

YANGON (Reuters) – Hundreds rallied for a second day in one of Myanmar’s biggest cities yesterday to protest against chronic power outages, in the largest demonstrations since the army crushed a monk-led uprising nearly five years ago.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – China can now bypass Wall Street when buying US government debt and go straight to the US Treasury, in what is the Treasury’s first-ever direct relationship with a foreign government, according to documents viewed by Reuters.