http://thestar.com.my/news/worldupdates/ Update: Saturday, November 21, 2009 MYT 6:16:49 AM http://thestar.com.my/common/images/thestar_140x45.gif http://thestar.com.my/ 88 31 http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-20T232706Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441296-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai is an "unworthy partner" who does not deserve a big boost either in U.S. troops or civilian aid, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T011106Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441317-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's announcement of a new strategy on Afghanistan will not take place until after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday next week, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Friday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-20T215506Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441282-1&sec=Worldupdates BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Senior officials from six world powers expressed disappointment on Friday that Iran had not accepted proposals intended to delay its potential ability to make nuclear bombs, and urged Tehran to reconsider. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-20T182319Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441195-3&sec=Worldupdates BERLIN (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief urged Iran on Friday to accept an offer to process its enriched uranium abroad by the end of 2009, and advised Western powers not to impose further sanctions on Tehran. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T024051Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441319-2&sec=Worldupdates HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) - The United States must tighten control of Afghan aid contracts as a first step toward stemming rampant corruption, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-20T192010Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441179-2&sec=Worldupdates RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said presidential and legislative elections scheduled for January will be postponed, confirming that he has accepted advice not to hold the vote. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T024106Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441334-1&sec=Worldupdates BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgians on Friday mixed pride with trepidation over Herman Van Rompuy's appointment as the first president of the European Union, fearing instability after his exit as prime minister. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T032011Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441338-2&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the Northern Hemisphere, global health officials said on Friday, but they cautioned it was far from over. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T024117Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441333-1&sec=Worldupdates OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian court ordered a new refugee hearing on Friday for a U.S. Army deserter who claimed she would face persecution because of her homosexuality if returned to the United States. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T023948Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441327-2&sec=Worldupdates BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia will not be provoked into armed conflict with Venezuela despite its neighbor's aggressive rhetoric and dynamiting of two border bridges, Colombia's defense minister said on Friday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T021354Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441331-1&sec=Worldupdates BOGOTA (Reuters) - Six people, including two children, were killed when suspected Colombian FARC guerrillas stopped and set fire to bus traveling in the south of the country, a local state governor said on Friday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T014555Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441325-1&sec=Worldupdates UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee condemned Iran on Friday for a violent crackdown on protesters after presidential elections this year that the Iranian opposition says were rigged. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T021340Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441332-1&sec=Worldupdates LONDON (Reuters) - British health officials are investigating the likely person-to-person spread of a drug-resistant strain of swine flu, the Health Protection Agency said on Friday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T013301Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441321-1&sec=Worldupdates PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Three years after a billionaire divorce gone terribly wrong, this is what is left: unfinished plans for America's largest home, several bankruptcies and an auction featuring a talking moose head. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T012811Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441315-1&sec=Worldupdates MOSCOW (Reuters) - Relatives and friends on Friday buried a key witness in a Russian tax fraud battle whose sudden death in prison this week prompted an outcry from rights activists. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-20T224649Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441288-1&sec=Worldupdates PARIS (Reuters) - A rarely seen French secret report on Adolf Hitler is among thousands of documents on 1920s Germany that are about to emerge from obscurity as part of a major overhaul of the French National Archives. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-20T191205Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441252-1&sec=Worldupdates GENEVA (Reuters) - Somalia has announced it plans to ratify a global treaty aimed at protecting children, leaving the United States as the only country outside the pact, UNICEF said on Friday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T005049Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441307-1&sec=Worldupdates TIRANA (Reuters) - The small Albanian town of Fushe-Kruje plans to erect a statue of former U.S. President George W. Bush to commemorate his June 2007 visit, when he was feted as a hero in an outpourinag of love for America. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-20T201705Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441273-1&sec=Worldupdates COCKERMOUTH, England (Reuters) - Lifeboats and military helicopters rescued hundreds of people overnight in northern England and a policeman was feared dead as torrential rain flooded homes and washed away bridges. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-20T231011Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441291-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration wants a comprehensive plan to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, not one that imposes carbon reduction requirements on just some industries such as electric utilities, a senior White House adviser said on Friday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/2009-11-21T002642Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441305-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When President Barack Obama and India's prime minister meet next week to talk about climate change the leaders will focus on green technologies rather than narrowing the global divide on greenhouse gas emissions goals, the chairman of the U.N.'s climate science panel said.