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TEHRAN: An Iranian official has confirmed that the government halted the sentence of death by stoning of a woman convicted of adultery, but he reiterated that she was still facing accusations of murder. The official, Ramin Mehmanparast, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, was the highest-ranking Iranian official to formally acknowledge that Iran had suspended the woman’s stoning, a sentence that provoked an international outcry.
Full Story| New York Tmes |

KIGALI: Rwandan President Paul Kagame met Wednesday with visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after Rwanda protested a leaked draft U.N. report that accuses troops from the central African nation of widespread violations of human rights. The draft report alleges that the Rwandan military and an allied rebel group massacred ethnic Hutus in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1993 and 2003.
Full Story| CNN |

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA : A Christian minister vowed Tuesday to go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Quran to protest the Sept 11 terrorist attacks despite warnings from the White House and the top US general in Afghanistan that he would endanger American troops overseas. State department spokesman PJ Crowley echoed that, calling the plan to burn copies of the Quran "un-American" and saying it does not represent the views of most Americans.
Full Story| Times of India |

KIGALI: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Rwanda on Wednesday not to end its peacekeeping operations in Sudan as he sought to defuse rising tensions over a leaked U.N report. Ban said the report, which in its draft form said Rwandan soldiers may have committed genocide in Democratic Republic Congo during the 1990s, would be released after UN members and interested parties had had an opportunity to respond.
Full Story| Daily Times |

MEXICO CITY: Drug-related violence in Mexico increasingly has the hallmarks of an insurgency, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said. "It's looking more and more like Colombia looked 20 years ago, when the narco-traffickers controlled certain parts of the country," she said. Her comments were made following a major speech to US foreign policy experts in Washington.
Full Story| BBC |

CANBERRA: Australia’s fragile Labor government suggested on Wednesday it could adjust a planned profits-based tax on mining companies to bend to demands of the independent MPs giving it a slender grip on power. Gillard went into Australia’s closest election in decades proposing a 30 percent tax on coal and iron ore mining profits from 2012, using proceeds to cut company tax cut from 30 percent to 29 percent and boost workers’ pension funds.
Full Story| Daily Times |

BEIJING: China on Tuesday hailed Myanmar as a "friendly neighbour" and warned the world not to meddle in its upcoming election, as the head of the country's military junta was due to arrive for a state visit. Than Shwe, whose regime has drawn international condemnation for its human rights record, arrives Tuesday for a four-day visit.
Full Story| ASIA ONE |

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations reported Tuesday that more than 500 systematic rapes were committed by armed combatants in eastern Congo since late July - more than double the number previously reported - and accepted partial responsibility for not protecting citizens.
Full Story| THE INDIAN EXPRESS |

MAPUTO: Deadly protests that paralysed Mozambique's capital last week were spurred by a text message that went viral on Maputo's cell phones, signalling the power of new technology in the hands of the poor. It is difficult to find a mobile phone user who did not get the anonymous SMS message presaging the three days of violence.
Full Story| AFP |

BAGHDAD: The prominent Iraqi television presenter Riad al-Saray has been shot dead by unknown gunmen in Baghdad. Mr Saray, who presented religious and political programmes on al-Iraqiya TV, was killed as he was leaving his home on Tuesday, the campaign group Reporters without Borders (RSF) said.
Full Story| BBC |