Russia wants U.S. to urge Syria rebels into peace talks
Date : 26/02/2013 15:16

MOSCOW/ BERLIN (Reuters) - Russia called on the United States on Tuesday to press the Syrian opposition to hold direct talks with Damascus, saying President Bashar al-Assad's opponents must appoint negotiators. The crisis in Syria made up "the bulk of the conversation" between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at talks in Berlin on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. ...

Most Venezuelans think Chavez will recover: poll
Date : 26/02/2013 15:12

CARACAS (Reuters) - Most Venezuelans expect President Hugo Chavez to recover from cancer and return to active rule even though he has been in hospital and virtually unseen for two-and-a-half months, a poll showed on Tuesday. Local pollster Hinterlaces said 60 percent of interviewees believe Chavez will be cured and back to governing, while 14 percent think he will recover but be unable to rule again, and 12 percent view his state as incurable. Chavez, 58, underwent a fourth operation for cancer in Cuba on December 11. ...

Heroes to Heroes helps wounded US vets recover
Date : 26/02/2013 14:31

He’d suffered from nightmares and had used alcohol to blot out depression. After leaving Iraq as a wounded soldier in 2004, Harrison Manyoma of Humble, Texas, remained haunted by his experiences, which had culminated in a roadside car bomb explosion.

As atrocities pile up, Syrians collect evidence
Date : 26/02/2013 13:52

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activist Yashar hopes the security agents who tormented him during five months of detention will one day be put on trial. In detention, he says, he was locked naked in a tiny box for a week, beaten daily during marathon interrogations and blindfolded for 45 days.

Experts: Pistorius violated basic firearms rules
Date : 26/02/2013 13:03

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Even if Oscar Pistorius is acquitted of murder, firearms and legal experts in South Africa believe that, by his own account, the star athlete violated basic gun-handling regulations and exposed himself to a homicide charge by shooting into a closed door without knowing who was behind it.