Herald Globe news
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Obama welcomes Iran's election of moderate president
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has urged Iran's newly elected president to prove to the world that the Islamic republic was not pursuing a nuclear weapon programme as the White House welcomed election of a moderate leader as a hopeful sign. "I think it says that the Iranian people want to move in a different direction," Obama said of the election results in Iran that saw a surprising ...
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Widespread anti-graft protests rock Brazil
SAO PAULO, Brazil - Anti-graft protests swept Brazil's main cities as some 200,000 demonstrators marched through the streets against alleged mis-governance, forcing President Dilma Rousseff Tuesday to acknowledge the need for better public services and effective administration. The assurance from Rousseff came a day after biggest protests rocked at least ten Brazilian cities, including Sao ...
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No breakthrough in talks between UK and Ecuador over Assange
LONDON - Talks between the United Kingdom and Ecuador have ended without any breakthrough over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's fate with the Andean nation. Ecquador said it was vowing not to succumb to diplomatic pressure and was ready to consider any request from Edward Snowden, another whistleblower, for asylum. As the fugitive anti-secrecy advocate marks one year holed up in the ...
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Gaddafi's son to stand trial in Libya in August
LONDON - Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of deceased Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, will stand trial in August along with Gaddafi's last prime minister and a former intelligence director, the prosecutor's office has announced. The men will be tried for crimes against the Libyan people during the 2011 uprising that toppled the former regime. Notorious former spy chief Abdullah ...
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Shenzen to be first Chinese city to begin carbon trading
BEIJING - China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, is set to launch Tuesday its first carbon trading scheme as a pilot project in the southern city of Shenzhen as part of efforts to cut emissions in its key cities. Carbon emissions trading schemes are meant to encourage companies to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by setting a limit or a cap, on the level of emission that can be ...
Movie Review
The Interpreter
Current global anxieties -- terrorism, despotism, third-world genocide -- are writ large in Sydney Pollacks The Interpreter, a sharply drawn thriller that has the distinction of being the first film ever shot inside the United Nations (not even Hitchcock could get permission whe ... ...
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Leaders of G8 call for peace in Syria and pledge humanitarian aid
ENNISKILLEN - The Group of Eight industrialised nations called for a swift end to the bloody civil war in Syria and urgent peace talks but stopped short of calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in its joint statement at the end of talks Tuesday. Despite the lack of consensus among the G8 on the fate of Assad, as well as the use of chemical weapons by his regime, Canadian ...
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Japanese firm to mass-produce synthetic spider silk
A Japanese company has developed a synthetic protein based on spider silk and plans to use it to mass-produce a highly resistant and flexible fiber in the near future. After six years of research, Spiber, in collaboration with Keio University's Institute for Advanced Biosciences and the company Kojima Industries, will inaugurate a plant this year with the capacity to produce up to 100 kg of ...
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Mexican telecom firm in talks to restructure debt
Mexico's Maxcom Telecomunicaciones said Tuesday it was looking to raise new capital and restructure debt after failing to make an interest payment. In a filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange, Maxcom said it would use a 30-day grace period with respect to Tuesday's scheduled interest payment of roughly $11 million to continue talks with a new investor and certain of its bondholders with a view ...
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Scientists identify 280 craters on moon
A team of Australian scientists has identified 280 craters on the moon's surface using a combination of gravitational data and topographical images from satellites, media reports said. A high-definition map prepared by the researchers at Curtin University in Perth identifies lunar craters not previously detected, ABC reported Tuesday. The project was initially designed to capture ...
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Three `Spider-Man sequels in pipeline says studio
Sony Pictures announced that it has firm plans for three sequels to 2012 mega-hit "The Amazing Spider-Man", with the first already in production and set for release in May 2014. The studio set opening dates for the third and fourth instalments of the saga in June 2016 and May 2018, respectively. "Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise, so we're thrilled ...