Coalition soldier missing in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A search is under way in southern Afghanistan for a soldier from the NATO-led coalition, believed to be the first to have gone missing since a U.S. Army sergeant was captured by the Taliban more than three years ago, a military spokesman said Friday.U.S. Army Maj. Martyn Crighton said the soldier was among the 1,560 troops from the former Soviet republic of Georgia serving...

Read More..

US budget negotiations setback drives stocks down

PARIS (AP) — A failed attempt find a compromise in U.S. budget negotiations sent global stock markets plummeting Friday, as investors feared the world's largest economy could teeter into recession if no deal is found.Without an agreement, the U.S. economy will fall off the so-called "fiscal cliff" on Jan. 1 when Bush-era tax cuts expire and spending cuts kick in automatically. The measures were designed...

Read More..

NKorea says it has detained a US citizen

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday that an American citizen has been detained after confessing to unspecified crimes, confirming news reports about his arrest at a time when Pyongyang is facing criticism from Washington for launching a long-range rocket last week.The American was identified as Pae Jun Ho in a brief dispatch issued by the state-run Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang....

Read More..

Gunmen kill 11 Pakistanis, Afghans in SW Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — An official says gunmen have killed eleven Pakistanis and Afghans in a border town of southwestern Pakistan as they were trying to cross to Iran to travel on to Europe as illegal migrants.Local government official Zubair Ahmed said Saturday the shooting took place late Friday in the Sunsar town of southwestern Baluchistan province.He said the dead and wounded were Afghans and...

Read More..

People flee Japan nuke disaster to faraway Okinawa

NAHA, Japan (AP) — Okinawa is about as far away as one can get from Fukushima without leaving Japan, and that is why Minaho Kubota is here.Petrified of the radiation spewing from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant that went into multiple meltdowns last year, Kubota grabbed her children, left her skeptical husband and moved to the small southwestern island. More than 1,000 people from the disaster...

Read More..

Why scandal-tinged Berlusconi still beloved of many Italians

ROME (Reuters) - They call themselves "the club". A doctor, a business-owner, pensioners and engineers - united by their support for one of Europe's most controversial politicians, Silvio Berlusconi."We are all Berlusconiani. We do not want Monti. We don't want someone who takes orders from Brussels," said teacher Annalisa Lillo, 49, in the Rome antiques shop where the club meets to discuss politics...

Read More..

South Africa's soothing Ramaphosa leads ANC charm offensive

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa's ruling ANC put its new No. 2 Cyril Ramaphosa at the head of a charm offensive on Friday as it sought to reassure both investors and a restless public it would tackle economic inequality without recourse to wholescale nationalization.Days after his appointment as party deputy to President Jacob Zuma, who was re-elected ANC chief this week, the anti-apartheid...

Read More..

S.Africa's soothing Ramaphosa leads ANC charm offensive

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa's ruling ANC put its new No. 2 Cyril Ramaphosa at the head of a charm offensive on Friday as it sought to reassure both investors and a restless public it would tackle economic inequality without recourse to wholescale nationalisation.Days after his appointment as party deputy to President Jacob Zuma, who was re-elected ANC chief this week, the anti-apartheid...

Read More..

Fiscal cliff setback rattles shares, euro

LONDON (Reuters) - Global stock markets weakened on Friday and both the euro and gold slipped, as a new setback in talks to avert a U.S. fiscal crisis and evidence of Europe's ongoing economic difficulties stoked investor nerves. A proposal from Republican leader John Boehner to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff failed to get support from his party on Thursday, casting fresh...

Read More..

UK data point to meager growth, public finances worsen

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's dominant services sector posted meager growth in October, which may be just enough for the economy as a whole to avoid contraction in the last three months of 2012.However, public borrowing figures also released on Friday showed that finance minister George Osborne has a lot of catching up to do to meet updated forecasts published earlier this month given the poor economic...

Read More..