[World] Damascus, rebels trade charges on "chemical attack"

Damascus, rebels trade charges on "chemical attack"
http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/syrian-regime-alleges-rebels-fired-chemical-weapon-killing-25-1.1201446
By Dominic Evans. BEIRUT | Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:52am EDT. BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's government and rebels accused each other of launching a deadly chemical attack near the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday in what would, if confirmed, be the first use ...

Pope sets tone for humbler papacy, calls for defense of the weak
http://www.google.com/hostednews/getty/article/ALeqM5g4I9iyDFbI-6-hDIglfLCyfK1hOQ?docId=164025968
By Philip Pullella and Catherine Hornby. VATICAN CITY | Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:45am EDT. VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis set the tone for a new, humbler papacy on Tuesday with a call for the defense of the weak and the environment, saying this was ...

Syrian Opposition Meets on Government for Rebel Areas
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/03/18/syria-ballot-ghassan-hitto.html
Syria's main political opposition elected Ghassan Hitto as head of an interim government to administer areas of the country held by rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

Xi Jinping and Jacob Lew meet to beef up Sino-US economic ties
http://www.google.com/hostednews/getty/article/ALeqM5jys2NX54r0E5mWFDzK9ojWbc1Y8w?docId=164007880
CHINA'S new President, Xi Jinping, has met US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, flagging that "differences" still remained between the two nations.

Nigerian Bombings in Kano Killed 22 People, Police Say
http://world.myjoyonline.com/pages/nigeria/201303/102992.php
Two suicide bombers killed at least 22 people in an attack on a bus station in the northern Nigerian city of Kano yesterday, said the state's police commissioner, Musa Daura.

Press regulation deal: two cheers for parliament, anyone?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2013/mar/19/press-deal-two-cheers-parliament
Today's Tory press is hedging its bets on the dramatic cross-party deal for regulating the industry. It's easy to mock the notion of Fleet St's more expensive suits waiting by the red telephone for instructions from Lord Copper, but I don't blame them.

Iran, P5+1 review proposals in Istanbul meeting: statement
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/barack-obama-now-is-the-time-for-iran-to-settle-nuclear-dispute-344185
TEHRAN, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Iran said in a statement issued here on Tuesday that the Iran's experts and the P5+1 group reviewed proposals by both sides in their latest meeting in the Turkish city of Istanbul, Press TV reported.

Over 30 people feared dead in India bus crash
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/zOnIgx3PNp4UaX8bsIVOsM/32-killed-in-Mumbai-bus-accident-police.html
More than 30 people are feared dead after a bus drove off a bridge and plunged into a river below in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Tuesday, local media reported.

Police: India tourist, fearing hotel owner, makes balcony-to-balcony escape
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21843657
(CNN) -- A British woman touring India dropped from her hotel room's balcony to the one below to escape the hotel's owner, who had been trying to enter her room, police said Tuesday.

Richards Hinds convicted of Nicola Furlong murder
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2295711/American-musician-19-jailed-murder-Irish-exchange-student-sex-attack-Tokyo-hotel-Nicki-Minaj-concert.html
Richard Hinds has been found guilty of the murder of Irish student Nicola Furlong in Tokyo last May. He was given a sentence of a minimum of five years and a maximum of ten years with labour.

Yemeni talks greeted by hecklers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21828527
SANAA, Yemen, March 18 (UPI) -- Yemeni President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi called on protesters Monday to leave an assembly room during the start of a national dialogue session.

Russia regrets US not pressing charges over boy's death
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21838481
By Thomas Grove. MOSCOW | Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:22am EDT. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday criticized a decision by U.S. authorities not to file charges against the adoptive parents of a Russian-born boy whose death in January was seized on in ...

Blair defends Iraq invasion, calls for Syria action
http://www.euronews.com/2013/03/19/web-blair-defends-iraq-invasion-calls-for-syria-action/
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has once again defended his decision to go to war in Iraq ten years after it happened. In an interview on British TV Blair said: “How can you regret removing a monster who created enormous carnage?

Cyprus and Magnitsky
http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2013/03/18/cyprus-and-magnitsky/
There's an irony in the fact that the grudging bailout of Cyprus by other members of the European Union came at the end of the same week in which the late Sergei Magnitsky was due to go on trial in Russia.