France on Tuesday became the first Western country to formally recognize Syria's newly formed opposition coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Montenegro train crash kills 2, injures 28
Officials say a passenger train has crashed into a railway repair trolley in a tunnel in northern Montenegro, killing two people and injuring more than two dozen.
France rules out any use of air power in Mali
Neither France nor Europe will intervene militarily to oust al-Qaida and its allies from northern Mali -- not even with air strikes, the French defense minister said Tuesday. Gorbachev issues new book, laments illnesses
Mikhail Gorbachev says he's feeling the effects of old age, but aims to stay active as long as he can. U.N. urges end to U.S. Cuba embargo for 21st year
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Repeating an annual ritual, the U.N. General Assembly called on Tuesday for the United States to lift its trade embargo against Cuba, whose foreign minister said the blockade against the communist-run island was tantamount to “genocide.” For the 21st year, the assembly’s vote was overwhelming, with 188 nations – including most of Washington’s closest allies – supporting the embargo resolution, a result virtually unchanged from last year. Israel, heavily dependent on U.S. …
Belize police urge software founder to appear
Police are urging software company founder John McAfee to come in for questioning and help solve the killing of his neighbor on the Caribbean island where they lived, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Chamblin looking for ways to improve Riders before hosting 2013 Grey Cup
REGINA – Corey Chamblin says he’s feeling good about the future of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, even though his first season as a CFL head coach ended with an early playoff exit.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama has faith in General John Allen to continue commanding U.S. forces in Afghanistan while under investigation for alleged inappropriate communication with a woman at the center of the scandal involving former CIA Director David Petraeus, the White House said on Tuesday. "He has faith in General Allen," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters, saying the president believed Allen was doing a good job in Afghanistan. Carney reiterated Obama's call for the Senate to move quickly to confirm Allen's successor, General Joseph Dunford. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain's plan to force banks to shield their retail banking operations from riskier activities could create a "moral hazard" from the expectation that lenders will be bailed out if they hit trouble, a top banker said. "The language of ring fencing has huge risk of moral hazard," said Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland. "You are giving a charter in everyone's minds for the next time there is a problem inside the ring fence, it (the bank) gets bailed out by one mechanism or another. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – The chief operating officer of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will quit this year as the agency's new head, David Green, embarks on a rec ruitment drive and overhaul to instil fresh faith in the beleaguered organisation. The SFO said on Tuesday that Christian Bailes would leave this financial year after agreeing a confidential exit package with the agency's former head, Richard Alderman. The latest senior SFO official to quit is expected to be replaced by a new chief financial officer, a spokesman said. … 
PARIS (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande, grappling a sickly economy and dismal ratings, urged the French public on Tuesday to judge him on his long-term succ ess in reviving the country's ailing industry and halting a 17-month rise in unemployment. Stressing that low French bond yields showed that markets believed his economic policies were credible, Hollande said a move to fund tax rebates for companies with small rises in sales tax should bolster output while preserving consumer spending. … 
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada pushed back the target to wipe out its federal budget deficit by a year on Tuesday, citing the impact of a weak global economy that has dampened commodity prices. The finance department projected bigger-than-expected federal budget deficits for this year and the following three years. It now sees a return to a small surplus in 2016-17, a year later than previously planned. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, updating his March budget, said the fiscal shortfall in the current year would be C$26 billion ($26 billion), up from the previous forecast of C$21.1 billion. … 
BISSAU (Reuters) – Guinea-Bissau's caretaker President Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo may have one of the world's toughest jobs – leading a country where cocaine smuggling is out of control, t he economy is in freefall and violence is the top means to political ends. But his biggest challenge is also the most fundamental: nearly seven months into his tenure, the European Union – once a source of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the state – refuses to recognize his administration. … 
The website's headlines trumpet al-Shabab's imminent demise and describe an American jihadist fretting over insurgent infighting. At first glance it appears to be a sleek, Horn of Africa news site. But the site -- sabahionline.com -- is run by the U.S. military. 
Zimbabwe's diamond conference was rocked by controversy over the Kimberley Process, the world diamond trade regulatory body, whose chairwoman was publicly asked to resign because she is American. 
Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood has sharply criticized Israel over its recent airstrikes that killed seven Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.