LONDON (Reuters) – A British elite special forces sniper, whose 18-month jail sentence for possessing a pistol had caused public outrage, walked free on Thursday after winning a legal appeal. SAS Sergeant Danny Nightingale, 37, had admitted illegal possession of a Glock 9 mm pistol and ammunition at a court martial earlier this month. But he maintained he was given the gun as a present in Iraq and, because of a brain injury, forgot about it. …
Judge: UK needs independent press regulator
Britain's unruly newspapers should be regulated by an independent body dominated by non-journalists with the power to levy steep fines for ethical lapses, a judge recommended Thursday after a yearlong inquiry. SAS sniper walks free after gun sentence suspended
LONDON (Reuters) – A British elite special forces sniper, whose 18-month jail sentence for possessing a pistol had caused public outrage, walked free on Thursday after winning a legal appeal. SAS Sergeant Danny Nightingale, 37, had admitted illegal possession of a Glock 9 mm pistol and ammunition at a court martial earlier this month. But he maintained he was given the gun as a present in Iraq and, because of a brain injury, forgot about it. … PM's trip to 5 Wing Goose Bay raises hopes that military promises will be kept
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s trip to 5 Wing Goose Bay in Labrador is raising hopes for a long promised military expansion on the largely vacant base.
Senate panel OKs Obama choice for US commander
The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved President Barack Obama’s choice to be the top commander in Afghanistan.
US finds Guantanamo prisoner death was suicide
A U.S. Defense Department official says the death of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner in September is being ruled a suicide.
Noisy city: Cacophony in Caracas sparks complaints
This metropolis of 6 million people may be one of the world's most intense, overwhelming cities, with tremendous levels of crime, traffic and social strife. The sounds of Caracas' streets live up to its reputation. Ice sheets melting at poles faster than before
Fueled by global warming, polar ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are now melting three times faster than they did in the 1990s, a new scientific study says. McEwen, Lawton remain undefeated with extra-end wins at Canada Cup
MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Mike McEwen and Stefanie Lawton both needed extra-end wins to remain undefeated at the Capital One Canada Cup curling competition.
Tunisia PM refuses to resign after protests
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia's Islamist prime minister rejected calls for his resignation on Thursday after two days of violent protests against economic hardship, and he accu sed opposition parties of sowing disorder. At least 200 people were injured when demonstrators demanding jobs clashed with police on Tuesday and Wednesday in Siliana, a city on the edge of the Sahara whose inhabitants have long complained of neglect. Protesters and a prominent leftist politician called upon Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali to step down after the violence. A leading trade union had called for the protests. … Palestinians seek UN upgrade but powers elusive
Once the Palestinians achieve their goal of an upgrade to nonmember observer state status at the United Nations on Wednesday, they face a series of struggles to capitalize on that recognition throughout the U.N. system. WikiLeaks' Assange downplays health concerns
LONDON (Reuters) – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, holed up in London's Ecuadorian embassy for nearly six months, played down concerns about his hea lth on Thursday, saying he enjoyed being at the centre of the legal and diplomatic storm. Assange, 41, whose website angered the United States by releasing thousands of secret diplomatic cables, took sanctuary in Ecuador's embassy in June, jumping bail after exhausting appeals in British courts against extradition to Sweden for sexual assault allegations. … Arafat's widow calls his death a mystery
The widow of Yasser Arafat says she sees a spiritual significance in the timing of her late husband's exhumation, which came just two days before a U.N. vote on whether to recognize a Palestinian state. Canada looks for golden encore as team preps for World Sledge Hockey Challenge
Greg Westlake would like Brad Bowden to score for himself occasionally.
RBC sees no big impact from Fed foreign bank plan
TORONTO (Reuters) – A proposal by a top U.S. Federal Reserve official to subject foreign banks operating in the United States to the same tough oversight rules as their U.S. rivals would not have much impact on Royal Bank of Canada , RBC' ;s chief executive said on Thursday. Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo's plan would force the largest U.S. divisions of foreign banks to establish holding companies that would cover all subsidiaries. The holding companies would have to comply with the same capital rules that cover U.S. banks. … Air Canada expands Asia-Pacific flights to boost revenue
(Reuters) – Air Canada unveiled a major expansion in its flights to Asia, a high-growth area for Canada' ;s biggest airline in recent years, as it seeks to boost revenue in an attempt to become profitable. In what it described as its "most far-reaching international expansion of its schedule in its 75-year history," Air Canada said on Thursday it would add flights from Canada to Asian cities including Beijing, Seoul and Narita, Japan. Subject to government approval, the airline will also start flying to Istanbul. … UN vote is a boost to Palestinian statehood hopes
The expected admission of Palestine as a nonmember state in the United Nations is far more than a symbolic vote. For the Palestinians, the move gives them an important boost of international legitimacy in their quest for independence. For Israel and its key ally, the United States, it is a diplomatic setback with potentially grave implications.
AMSTERDAM/PRISTINA (Reuters) – Ramush Haradinaj, who helped lead a guerrilla insurgency in Kosovo in the late nineties and served briefly as prime minister, was acquitted of war crimes on Thursday for a second time, setting up a possible return to power but angering Serbia. "I'm happy that international justice has confirmed that our road to freedom was clean and just," Haradinaj, 44, told reporters on his arrival in Kosovo, where he was met by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and a military honor guard. … 
The Syrian government shut down the Internet across the country and cut cellphone services in select areas Thursday as rebels and government troops waged fierce battles near the capital's airport, wounding two Austrian peacekeepers and forcing international airlines to suspend flights, activists said. 
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico's new president takes office on Saturday seeking to shift the focu s away from a grisly drug war and onto economic reforms aimed at sparking fast growth and pulling the country out of the shadow of regional powerhouse Brazil. Enrique Pena Nieto inherits a $1.2 trillion economy that lagged other emerging markets for most of the past decade but has gained ground over the past two years, drawing in record investment despite continuing criminal violence. … 
A former prime minister of Kosovo has pledged he will return to political life after a U.N. war crimes tribunal acquitted him for the second time of murdering and torturing Serbs and their supporters in Kosovo's war for independence. 
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia's Islamist prime minister said on Thursday he would not resign over violent protests over economic hardship this week that left over 200 injured, accusing opposition parties of sowing disorder. "In democratic systems we don't force down gov ernments. I'm not going to resign or dissolve the government, it's parliament that has authority to do that," Hamadi Jebali told a news conference. "We know who is behind these events, the opposition parties. …