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BEIRUT: The U.N.’s new envoy to Syria told President Bashar Assad’s regime Saturday that change is both “urgent” and “necessary” and that it must meet the “legitimate” demands of the Syrian people, words that will not win the seasoned Algerian diplomat and international troubleshooter any friends in Damascus. On his first day on the job, Lakhdar Brahimi also called on both sides to end violence in Syria, but said Assad’s government bears more responsibility than anyone else to halt the bloodshed. These remarks were seemingly intended to push the Damascus government to ease up on military operations to create a better atmosphere for his...

Manila -- - Thousands of villagers who fled their coastal homes during a powerful earthquake in the central Philippines returned Saturday, but hundreds more still jittery from the temblor remained in evacuation centers, officials said. The magnitude 7.6 quake struck off the Philippines' east coast late Friday, killing one person...

The Associated Press= A sampling of some lyrics to well-known songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who died Saturday. --- "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" Do you know the way to San Jose? I've been away so long. I may go wrong and lose my way. Do you know the way to San Jose? I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose. L.A. is a great big freeway. Put a hundred down and buy a car. In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star Weeks turn into years. how quick they pass And all the stars that never were Are parking cars and pumping gas --- "Rain Drops Keep Fallin' on my Head" Raindrops keep fallin' on my head And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed...

In unexpected ways, Hurricane Isaac is making life tough for newspaper editors. At the Herald-Tribune, we work hard to provide balanced political coverage. During the national conventions, for example, we aim to give the same amount of space and prominence on Page One to the Republican and Democratic conventions. Every four years, we pull newspapers from the last conventions and compare what we did then with plans now. Then a hurricane throws a wrench in everything. Four years ago, Hurricane Gustav took aim at New Orleans, making landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on the planned first day of the 2008 Republican convention. This year, Hurricane Isaac made landfall at New Orleans as a Category...

Frankie Boyle: the jokes are an embarrassment for the Paralympics broadcaster Frankie Boyle looks to have made his final appearance on Channel 4, following the latest outrage provoked by the controversial comedian with jokes about Paralympic athletes on Twitter. Channel 4 declined to officially back or condemn Boyle on Friday, after he branded Saudi Arabian Paralympians as "mainly thieves" and a Paralympics GB high jumper's performance as "Taliban assisted". However, Channel 4 insiders admitted the comedian – on the network as recently as Monday with The Boyle Variety Performance as part of its Funny Fortnight – was unlikely to feature again. The comments were made on Boyle's personal...

AN earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale on New Zealand's lower North Island has been followed by two small earthquakes...

DAKAR, SENEGAL: The radical Islamists who control northern Mali appear incapable of managing basic services — including electricity, water and schools — and in some cases are asking for the return of state functionaries to run them, according to a delegation that went to the region for talks recently. The Islamists allied with al-Qaida appear to...

Cairo -- A popular Egyptian TV presenter accused of inciting the killing of the country's new president on air denied the charges at the opening of his trial Saturday, saying the case against him was part of a political dispute, Egypt's state news agency reported. The flamboyant Tawfiq Okasha, who...

Kabul -- - An attack by two suicide bombers just outside a U.S. military outpost in Wardak province at daybreak Saturday killed at least a dozen Afghans and wounded 58 others, according to Afghan and U.S. officials. Several U.S. soldiers were also wounded. The same military base suffered a devastating truck bombing last year on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington. That earlier assault on the base, known as Combat Outpost Sayed Abad, resulted in one of the worst tolls for foreign troops...

epicentre, n: a point from which the shock waves of an earthquake apparently radiate Welcome to our coverage of Manchester City versus Queens Park Rangers, a fixture which will always be defined by the stunning, jaw-dropping, fate-sealing and epochal goal-scoring feats of a City star. Stunning, jaw-dropping, fate-sealing and epochal... sounds good. So shall we watch it again? Yep, it's Jamie Pollock's wonder strike in this match in April 1998, a quite outstanding feat of adroit juggling that makes Lionel Messi look like Carl Leaburn. And one which, the way the rest of that season panned out, effectively sent City down to the third tier of English football for the first time. I've not...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - President Barack Obama lampooned the just-completed Republican National Convention as better-suited to an era of black-and-white TV and " trickle-down, you're on your own" economics Saturday, and declared that Mitt Romney "did not offer a single new idea" to fix the economy. "There was a lot of talk about hard truths and bold choices, but no one actually told you what they were," Obama said in Iowa, chuckling, as he set out on a three-day tour of battleground states in the run-up to his own convention. Later, Obama said, the Republican gathering was so rooted in the past, there should have been a rabbit-ears antenna on the convention hall. Yet even the site of Obama's...

MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Felipe Calderon has delivered the last state-of-the-nation report of his administration, saying he is leaving Mexico with the...

Queen Elizabeth II attended the Highland Games at Braemar in Scotland on Saturday (local time) alongside her husband Prince Philip, who was making his second public appearance since being in hospital last month. Organisers had feared Philip, 91, would not be able to...

Saturday, September 1, 2012 | Updated: Saturday, September 1, 2012 7:50pm Comments (0) E-mail Print Tweet Page 1 of 1 MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — An endangered female hawksbill sea turtle, laden with eggs, has arrived at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital after being flown to the state from the U.S. Virgin Islands. American Airlines provided free transportation on Saturday for the turtle to Miami, where it was loaded on the hospital's ambulance for the trip down the Keys' Overseas Highway....

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's sole operational nuclear power reactor has reached full capacity, a senior official said Saturday. Iran's deputy nuclear chief, Mohammad Ahmadian, said the reactor at the Bushehr power plant was brought to its "full capacity of 1,000 megawatts" Friday evening. The reactor went into operation for the first time last year at minimum capacity. The Islamic Republic built the nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian port city with Russian help. The facility is a cornerstone of Iran's drive to become a technological leader among Muslim nations, with efforts such as an ambitious space program and long-range missile development. Iran also runs smaller research reactors and...

Niall Leonard: 'A reader review appeared on Amazon saying that every woman in her New York hairdressing salon was either reading the book or talking about it. We looked at each other and thought, "Oh shit…" ' Photograph: Pal Hansen for the Guardian If on entering your local bookshop you can find your way past the teetering stacks of EL James' Fifty Shades trilogy, you might come across a slim new crime novel, Crusher. That one's mine. Perceptive reviewers have noted that the hero's father, Maguire, is an embittered Irish hack consumed with envy of his peers. That must be you, they insist. What modern novelist doesn't envy EL James, the 40-something TV executive and mother of two who has...

Aboard the Romney Plane — In recent days, Ann Romney has been a frequent visitor to the press cabinat the back of the new Romney campaign plane, in one instance bearing her famed Welsh cakes. ...

Click to play video Return to video Video settings Please Log in to update your video settings Video will begin in 5 seconds. Don't play Play now More video Recommended Click to play video Clinton shores up Pacific ties in Cook Islands Click to play video...

'Prohibition is the abrogation of control leading to the unregulated peddling of adulterated substances outside the reach of the law.' Photograph: Mykel Nicolaou / Rex Features This week, a study purportedly showed an association, or correlation, between people who became habitual cannabis users when they were 13 and people whose IQ dwindled between the ages of 13 and 38. It also suggested the lack of such correlation for those who first became habitual cannabis users when they were aged 18 or over. Accordingly, one is expected to infer that using cannabis in early adolescence has a detrimental effect on IQ, but doesn't if one begins using it in late adolescence. These findings are likely to...

A Legionnaire's disease outbreak in Quebec City has killed 10 people since late July, health authorities in the francophone Canadian city said in an updated toll. A total of 165 people have so far been diagnosed with the disease, which poses a risk for people with weak immune systems but can be treated with antibiotics. The regional DRSP health authorities noted that the most recent count included cases reported over the past 10 to 15 days, as Legionnaire's has an incubation period of two to 10 days. DRSP has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the outbreak. Health authorities suspect improper maintenance of cooling units in air conditioning systems are at fault for the...

Monday Newcastle Herald, Australia Global hero The spotlight he had avoided throughout his life shone once again on astronaut Neil Armstrong Sunday as the world paid tribute to his passing. The Apollo 11 mission commander became a global hero for his role in one of the defining historical moments of the 20th century - the first moon landing. Cultural divide In an editorial, John Howard wrote that "despite the many things we have in common with our American friends, there is a huge cultural divide when it comes to the free availability of firearms." The 2nd Amendment "bears no relationship at all to the circumstances of everyday life in America today. Yet there is a...

Beijing -- China's ruling Communist Party on Saturday promoted an ally of the country's likely next president to a key position ahead of a party congress where a younger generation of leaders will be named, in a sign they are consolidating their power. The official Xinhua News Agency said Li Zhanshu, 62, has been appointed...

Moscow -- When the Russian authorities began a series of investigations this spring into the business affairs of a prominent opposition lawmaker, it was widely viewed as thinly veiled political retribution. But in a sign of how quickly the tables can be flipped in such disputes, allies of the politician, Gennady Gudkov, have begun pointing at other members of the Duma, the lower house of parliament,...

MEXICO CITY Mexican President Felipe Calderon has delivered the last state-of-the-nation report of his administration, saying he is...

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton began a 10-day, 6-nation visit to Asia pledging to broaden American diplomatic, economic and security support in the Pacific, but also offering conciliatory remarks toward China at a time when tensions are rising over territorial disputes. Connect With Us on Twitter Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors “We all have important contributions and stakes in this region’s success — to advance your security, your opportunity and your prosperity,” she told leaders on Friday at the Pacific Island Forum, an annual conference of 16 nations...

Click to play video Return to video Video settings Please Log in to update your video settings Video will begin in 5 seconds. Don't play Play now More video Recommended Click to play video Clinton shores up Pacific ties in Cook Islands Click to play video...

Jordan has sharply increased the amount of money it says it requires from the international community to cope with the influx of refugees from Syria. In a joint appeal with the UN's refugee agency, Jordan said it now needs $700m (£440m) to deal with the crisis. Only a few days earlier, it asked for $400m. The request comes as fighting continues to rage across Syria, increasing the number of fleeing civilians. Meanwhile, Algerian Lakhdar Brahimi has taken up his post of UN peace envoy. Mr Brahimi, who took over...

In this Friday photo provided by the San Juan Islander, emergency personnel attend to pilot Richard Bach after Bach's plane crashed in a field, in Friday Harbor, Wash. Bach, the author of the 1970s best-selling novella "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" among other spiritually oriented writings often rooted in themes of flight, was in serious condition Saturday at Harborview Medical Center. (AP Photo/San Juan Islander, Matt Pranger)Richard Bach, the author of the 1970s best-selling novella...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Regional and GCC Affairs, Ambassador Hamad Ahmed Al Amer today summoned the Iranian Charge d'affaires Mr. Mahdi Islami to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and...

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Corey Hart homered to lead off the ninth inning and lift the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night. Keep up with the latest news on The Times's baseball blog. Go to the Bats Blog Major League Baseball Live Scoreboard Standings | Wild Card Stats | Injuries Yankees Schedule/Results Roster | Stats Mets Schedule/Results Roster | Stats The win was the Brewers second straight over the Pirates and the team's 10th win in its last 12 games. The Pirates lost for the ninth time in the last 12 games as Pittburgh continues to try to stay in the National League Wild Card playoff race. Leading off the ninth inning, Hart hit the second pitch he...

Sunday, 2 September 2012, 2:34 pm Press Release: New Zealand First Party Rt Hon Winston Peters New Zealand First Leader 02 September 2012   International Reputation Threatened by Trademark Breaches New Zealand First is calling on the Government to take...