[World] Benedict XVI's time as Pope ends

Benedict XVI's time as Pope ends
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/02/28/pope-benedict-retirement.html?cmp=rss
"Thank you and goodnight," Pope Benedict XVI told crowds gathered outside his new home in the Italian countryside Wednesday, as he became the first pontiff to retire in almost six centuries.

US Steps Up Aid to Syrian Opposition, Pledging $60 Million
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/28/syrias_opposition_gets_60m_in_assistance_food_and_medical_aid_from_the_us.html
ROME - The food rations and medical supplies that Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday would be provided to the Free Syrian Army mark the first time that the United States has publicly committed itself to sending nonlethal aid to the armed factions ...

Troubles in the West Bank: Is There a Threat of a Third Intifadeh?
http://world.time.com/2013/02/28/troubles-in-the-west-bank-is-there-a-threat-of-a-third-intifadeh/?iid=gs-main-lead
Isreali border policemen arrest a Palestinian man during a protest to support Palestinian prisoners, outside Ofer, an Israeli military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Feb. 28, 2013.

Rodman Meets With North Korean Leader, Courtside
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/sports/basketball/dennis-rodman-meets-north-korean-leader.html
Photographs of Dennis Rodman laughing while watching a basketball exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea, with Kim Jong-un, the leader of one of the world's most repressive countries, may be some of the strangest sights in the history of accidental ...

34 killed as riots spark Bangladesh
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/bangladesh/9899356/Bangladesh-Islamist-sentenced-to-death.html
At least 34 people were killed in Bangladesh in a wave of violence on Thursday as Islamists reacted furiously to a ruling that one of their leaders must hang for war crimes during the 1971 independence conflict.

Is the US kowtowing to Iran in nuclear talks?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21619461
THE MOST interesting public result of the latest talks with Iran on its nuclear program was the claim by Tehran's chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, that the new negotiating proposal from the United States and five partners was a possible “turning point” in what has ...

Thai government, Muslim rebels agree to hold first peace talks
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/9899300/Thailand-signs-breakthrough-deal-with-Muslim-rebels.html
(CNN) -- A little reported insurgency that has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people in the last decade showed signs of moving towards a peaceful resolution Thursday, as Thai authorities agreed to hold talks with Muslim rebels in the restive south of the ...

Dragging death further stains S. African police force
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/dragging-death-further-stains-s-african-police-force/article9199613/
The police approached Mido Macia for a minor offence: His mini-bus taxi was parked illegally. A few minutes later, he was being dragged violently along the pavement, handcuffed helplessly to the back of a police vehicle.

Testosterone Booster Was in Pistorius's Home
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/oscar-makes-time-magazine-cover-1.1478831
JOHANNESBURGâ€"The supplement found in Olympic runner and murder suspect Oscar Pistorius's house in February is a derivative of bull's testicles that can potentially raise testosterone levels enough to make an athlete fail a drug test, said a South African ...

Putin signs law to curb smoking, tobacco sales in Russia
http://rt.com/politics/syria-hollande-putin-approach-634/
(Illustration) Photo: Shutterstock. Putin signs law to curb smoking, tobacco sales in Russia. Ban on smoking on subways, schools to take effect in June; restaurants, cafes to come.

Venezuela: Chávez Still 'Battling'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21622944
Vice President Nicolás Maduro said Thursday that President Hugo Chávez was still fighting for his life. Mr. Maduro, Mr. Chávez's self-appointed successor, said on television that the president “is battling there for his health, for his life, and we're accompanying ...

Unreleased EU report slams Israeli settlements
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/eu-consuls-recommend-economic-sanctions-on-israeli-settlements.premium-1.506043
EU diplomats say settlements in east Jerusalem and E1 threaten peace; calls for economic sanctions. Sheep in E1 outside of Jerusalem Photo: REUTERS/Baz Ratner.

UK PM's party humbled in vote as anti-EU party surges
http://www.channel4.com/news/eastleigh-by-election-result-lib-dems-ukip
By Costas Pitas. EASTLEIGH, England | Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:53pm EST. EASTLEIGH, England (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron's ruling Conservative party was humiliated in an election in England on Friday after it was defeated by a ...

China likely to appoint expert on North Korea, Japan as foreign minister
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iu1x1jkJdaEeSBTCtIlx6cthUouA?docId=CNG.fb4f0dec0a2a2fd17c33041fd04d7bf5.251
By Benjamin Kang Lim. BEIJING | Wed Feb 27, 2013 5:23pm EST. BEIJING (Reuters) - China is likely to appoint an expert on Japan and North Korea as its next foreign minister, three independent sources said, in a measure of Beijing's resolve to improve ...

Van Rompuy Calls on U.K. to Lead EU Reforms, Not Leave Bloc
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/herman-van-rompuy-tells-britain-leaving-eu-does-not-come-for-free/articleshow/18739136.cms
Calling on the U.K. to lead and not leave, European Union President Herman Van Rompuy said Britain is damaging its own economic interests by weighing an unprecedented departure from the bloc.

Here's the video of Turkey's prime minister comparing Zionism to fascism
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-pm-erdogan-islamophobia-anti-semitism-same.aspx?pageID=238&nID=42019&NewsCatID=338
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a speech to a United Nations body in Vienna in which he compared Zionism, the ideology behind the creation of a Jewish state, to fascism.

Former Haitian dictator 'Baby Doc' Duvalier appears in court
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/28/haiti-baby-doc-duvalier-trial
Former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier has made a first appearance in court after ignoring three previous summons. The hearing was to determine whether he can be tried for alleged human rights abuses.

Chuck Hagel stirs up India-US storm over Afghanistan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21601120
New US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has stirred up a sudden storm in a chai glass here, with past suggestions that India has been using Afghanistan as a "second front" against its old rival Pakistan.

Fears of renewed violence in tight Kenya poll race
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jZbrNjJsWEfY0ynJ6rRQHNN7Ne6g?docId=b6b7d345c0564095af6030e611ced29e
Kenyans head to the polls Monday to elect a new president for the first time since deadly post-election unrest rocked the nation five years ago, with observers warning of possible fresh violence in the tight race.

Bruce Reynolds, Audacious Engineer of Great Train Robbery, Is Dead at 81
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/world/europe/bruce-reynolds-leader-of-great-train-robbery-dies-at-81.html
More Photos ». By BRUCE WEBER. Published: February 28, 2013. Bruce Reynolds, the chief architect of one of 20th-century Britain's most notorious crimes, the caper known as the Great Train Robbery, died on Thursday in England.