NEWS The Syrian military’s ability to fight rebels and hold territory has steadily eroded, forcing it to cede the job of running many checkpoints to paramilitary groups, give up a provincial city without much of a fight and enlist the top state-appointed Muslim cleric as a recruiter. Anne Barnard reports from Beirut.
The Roman Catholic cardinals’ first ballot of the conclave came up with no new pope, signaled by the black smoke from a Sistine Chapel chimney. But, clearly the modern world was pushing against the walls of Vatican City. Rachel Donadio and Jim Yardley report from Vatican City.
Soth Korea said on Tuesday that North Korea cannot unilaterally nullify the 1953 Korean War cease-fire, calling the North’s threats a ploy to strengthen Kim Jong-un’s leadership. At the same time, North Korea has begun evacuating citizens into tunnels with emergency provisions and putting military camouflage on buses and trucks, the South Korean Defense Ministry said. Choe Sang-Hun reports from Seoul.
Police failures over five decades allowed Jimmy Savile, one of Britain’s best-known television personalities, to escape investigation for a lifetime of sex offenses dating back to the early 1960s, according to a report published on Tuesday by a police oversight agency. Stephen Castle reports from London.
Australia’s mining boom has enticed thousands of young workers, leaving the country’s tourism industry short of skilled labor. Matt Siegel reports from Sydney.
The French government called for a law requiring Internet service providers to give all the traffic on their networks equal priority, saying existing rules were insufficient for protecting free speech online and ensuring fair competition among Web publishers. Eric Pfanner and Nicola Clark report from Paris.
In a profound signal of uneasiness about the healt of the euro zone, the German central bank said that it had nearly doubled the reserves it held to cover possible losses. Jack Ewing reports from Frankfurt.
Japan said Tuesday that it had extracted gas from offshore deposits of methane hydrate â€" sometimes called “flammable ice†â€" a breakthrough that officials and experts said could be a step toward tapping a promising but still little-understood energy source. Hiroko Tabuchi reports from Tokyo.
SPORTS Alex Ferguson would not talk to the media after Manchester United, the team he manages, lost in the Champions League, and for that he faces punishment from European soccer’s governing body. Rob Hughes on soccer.
