Afghanistan: France and Germany withdraw civilian staff

France and Germany are following the US and Britain in withdrawing civilian staff from Afghan government institutions in the wake of the killing of two senior US Nato officers.  Afghan authorities are hunting a 25-year-old Afghan policeman believed to have shot the officers dead at the interior ministry in Kabul on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia backs arming Syrian opposition

Saudi Arabia has backed the arming of Syria's opposition guerrilla army in remarks that could signal an intervention by the Sunni Muslim superpower in the Assad regime's crackdown against the uprising. The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, described the arming of the Free Syria Army as an "excellent idea" at an inaugural meeting in Tunisia of an anti-Assad group.

Bus carrying Britons crashes in France: 1 dead

A bus carrying dozens of British tourists has driven off the road in northern France and crashed into a ditch, killing one person.  The British Embassy says 23 people were injured, including six seriously. The cause of the accident early Sunday is unclear, but the bus was the only vehicle involved.

Justice Department calls Swiss Bank a "fugitive"

 The U.S. Justice Department called Switzerland's largest private bank a fugitive from justice on Friday after it didn't send any representatives to a court hearing in New York, where it has been charged with conspiring with American clients to hide $1.2 billion from the Internal Revenue Service.

The latest scavenger hunt takes you underwater

Geocaching started as a hobby more than a decade ago on land but it's slowly becoming popular with scuba enthusiasts around the world looking for new underwater adventures. People are adding this on as an extension to their own hobby for the co-founder of Geocaching.com based in Seattle.  Interest in geocaching has grown significantly over the years, even reaching space via the International Space Station.

Gold falls as Greek debt crisis back in spotlight

Gold prices fell Monday as the Greek debt crisis returned to the spotlight, renewing concerns about the impact that Europe's financial troubles could have on the global economy.  France and Germany warned Greece's leaders that they need to approve new reforms or risk bankruptcy. Greece could default on a bond repayment next month without another installment of bailout loans.

Panama Canal expansion strike settled

A company expanding the Panama Canal has settled a strike by 6,000 workers that had paralyzed work for six days.  The multinational consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal says in a news release that the workers have agreed to a 13 percent wage increase and will return to work on Monday.  Union representative Saul Mendez says workers are not completely happy with the deal raising hourly pay to about $3.34 an hour, but still made important advances.

Syria crisis: Assad 'gives amnesty for uprising crimes

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has granted a general amnesty for all crimes committed during the 10-month uprising, state-run media report.  It would apply to army deserters who turned themselves in before the end of January, peaceful protesters and those who handed in unlicensed weapons, Sana news agency is quoted as saying.  Tens of thousands of people have been detained in the past year.

Yahoo dangled $27M pay package to get new CEO

Yahoo dangled a $27 million pay package to lure its newly hired CEO Scott Thompson away from PayPal.  The struggling Internet company disclosed the details of Thompson's compensation in a regulatory filing late Friday. Thompson starts his new job Monday after spending the past four years running eBay Inc.'s PayPal service, where revenue more than doubled during his tenure. PayPal took in an estimated $4.4 billion last year.

Health fund urges donors not to abandon patients

 A financially troubled global health fund says millions of people will suffer if donations continue to dry up, as European and United States budget constraints bite and a backlash continues over losses to corruption and other misspendin.

Running a country? There's an app for that, almost

Britain's government says experts are considering developing a bespoke iPad app that would deliver key data straight to Prime Minister David Cameron's tablet computer. The Times of London newspaper reported the app could include statistics and information from government departments, real time news and Twitter updates.

To track their pets, owners are trying GPS devices

 Half of the pets that enter animal shelters each year are strays or lost animals, but the growing use of GPS technology may offer owners a new option for trying to track down roaming cats, missing dogs and other runaway pets.

French annul ruling against planting modified corn

France's highest administrative body has annulled rules suspending the planting of genetically modified corn, but two key ministries quickly said the government is still looking for ways to block such crops.  The Council of State, acting on a complaint from U.S.-based agricultural company Monsanto and other interested parties, on Monday annulled two Agriculture Ministry rulings from 2007 and 2008 that suspended the planting of Monsanto MON 810 modified corn.

French former first lady Mitterand dies at 87

Danielle Mitterand died Tuesday at age 87. Mitterrand died before dawn after being hospitalized at Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris in recent days for fatigue, her foundation France Libertes said.

Mitterrand turned the 14-year tenure of her husband, French President Francois Mitterrand, into her own bully pulpit.

Mitterrand created several charities and criss-crossed the world in defense of human rights.

Job-hungry Spaniards seen electing center-right

Another troubled European government will almost surely tumble this week end as Spanish voters braving sky-high unemployment, the sting of austerity, piles of debt and a bleak future are expected to dump the ruling socialists and hand their national mess to opposition conservatives.

US scientist receives Kyoto Prize in technology

American scientist John W. Cahn received Japan's annual Kyoto Prize on Thursday, winning 50 million yen, or about $650,000, for his contributions in materials science that led to the creation of stronger, lighter alloys used in cellphones and many electronic devices.

Prince William and Kate to get new London home

Prince William and Kate his wife who are based in remote Wales, have picked an apartment in historic Kensington Palace as their permanent London base. Plans are under way to transform the apartment to quarters fit for the newlyweds.
It added that the couple will continue to divide their time between London and Wales after their new home in the capital  becomes ready, which is expected to be in mid-2013

Olympic boxing body considering skirts for women

 After winning a long fight to get into the Olympics, women boxers are at the center of a dress code debate ahead of the 2012 London Games, including whether they should wear skirts in the ring.

The International Amateur Boxing Association said that officials will meet in January to discuss the issue and draw up recommendations.

Greece talks under way in bid to avoid bankruptcy

Greek leaders entered a second day closed-door talks Sunday to end an ongoing political crisis, under intense pressure to ensure the country doesn’t go bankrupt in the next few weeks and that it remains in the eurozone.

Doubts increase in United Kingdom

In UK, the economy is died because of austerity drive: job have been lost, employees sacked,...
The country wants to tame budget deficit.
The sharpest measures of 81 billion pound, four year program of public spending cuts are yet to bite.

However, the country hopes to see businesses generate news jobs to replace public sector posts.