Bin Laden: Europeans should end US help
CAIRO, Egypt – Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden called on Europeans to stop helping the United States in the war in Afghanistan, according to a new tape released Thursday.

U.S. sponsorship of Sunni groups worries Iraq’s government
The American campaign to turn Sunni Muslims ‘against’ Islamic extremists is growing so quickly that Iraq’s Shiite Muslim leaders fear that it’s out of control and threatens to create a potent armed force that will turn against the government one day.

Return of Iraqi refugees concerns US
BAGHDAD – The U.S. military has expressed concern that Iraq’s government is unprepared to deal with a mass return of refugees to Baghdad, a flow that could foster housing and employment tensions in a city that remains insecure despite declining violence.

Israeli court halts Gaza electricity cut
JERUSALEM – The Israeli government can continue cutting fuel supplies to residents of the Gaza Strip but must postpone an electricity cut planned for this weekend, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Friday.

EU-Iran start final nuclear talks
LONDON (AFP) – The EU foreign policy chief and Iran’s top nuclear negotiator held last-ditch talks on Tehran’s nuclear plans Friday, but hopes of a breakthrough appeared slim amid a growing threat of new sanctions.

Russia signs Europe arms pact suspension into law
MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Friday suspending Russia’s participation in a key post-Cold War arms treaty, a move which could allow it to deploy more forces close to western Europe.

China to eliminate WTO-banned subsidies: US
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States announced Thursday that China has agreed to eliminate a dozen WTO-banned subsidies that have given Chinese exports a broad, unfair trade advantage.

Japan ordered to pay in overwork death
TOKYO – A court in central Japan ordered the government Friday to pay compensation to a woman who argued that her husband died from overwork at Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s largest automaker, officials said.
Only I think the COMPANY should have to pay, and I think we should do some of this kind of suing right here in the good old U.S.A.

Botched Manila coup a warning to would-be plotters
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippine government prepared fresh charges on Friday against the leaders of yet another botched coup and hunted for others as public apathy and a show of force sent a strong message to serial seditionists.

Australia wants Iraq troops home by mid 2008
CANBERRA (Reuters) – About 550 Australian combat troops in Iraq should be withdrawn by about the middle of next year, Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd said on Friday, setting a broad timetable for the soldiers to return home. Australia has about 1,500 troops in and around Iraq, but Rudd won power at the Australia’s national election on November 24 with a promise to bring frontline forces home.

Venezuelan students rally against Chavez
CARACAS, Venezuela – As more than 100,000 people flooded the streets to protest constitutional changes that would boost President Hugo Chavez’s power, students again showed they are a key force behind the re-energized opposition.

Police probe unlawful donations to Labour party
LONDON (AFP) – Police were set to begin Friday an investigation into unlawful donations to Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s governing Labour Party, in the latest blow to his beleaguered administration.

Pope criticizes atheism in encyclical
VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI strongly criticized modern-day atheism in a major document released Friday, saying it had led to some of the “greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice” ever known.
And so has Christianity, Mr. Pope, sir.  And so have other religions.  See below.

Calls in Sudan for execution of Briton
KHARTOUM, Sudan – Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear “Muhammad.”

Chad rebels declare war on French, foreign forces
N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – Chadian anti-government rebels on Friday declared a “state of war” against French and foreign military forces in an apparent warning to a European Union peacekeeping force that plans to deploy there soon.