http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews Global News: The Christian Science Monitor\'s global news blog Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:25:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en MOSCOW – Russia and Ukraine stepped back Friday from the brink of repeating their annual winter "gas war" amid surprisingly warm smiles and handshakes between prime ministers Vladimir Putin and Yulia Tymoshenko. The Russia-Ukraine agreement, sealed after a night of talks in the Crimean resort city of Yalta, makes several unexpected ... http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/20/putin-seals-russia-ukraine-gas-deal-boosting-eu-energy-security/ MEXICO CITY – Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez has quickly emerged as one of the best-known critics of the Castro regime. The Monitor met with her last year in a café in Havana after she had won Spain’s prestigious Ortega y Gasset award. Since then she has been chosen as one ... http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/20/obama-grants-interview-to-cuba-blogger-yoani-sanchez/ Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair lost his shot at the European Union presidency Thursday, when the UK withdrew its support for his nomination at a meeting of the group's 27 leaders in Brussels. Current Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy won the job. Supporters of the Blair candidacy had argued ... http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/19/tony-blair-loses-eu-presidency-bid-belgiums-van-rompuy-wins-job/ • A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent. HONG KONG – You’d think, wouldn’t you, that if you bought an apartment on the 88th floor you would have a pretty spectacular view, even in Hong Kong’s notoriously crowded skyline. In Hong Kong, though, you can buy a pied-à-terre on the 88th ... http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/19/hong-kong-developer-profits-off-lucky-88th-floor-apartment/ NEW DELHI – Hamid Karzai took the oath of office Thursday for his second term as president of Afghanistan. With US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in attendance, President Karzai delivered an inaugural address that focused on cleaning up corruption, talking with the Taliban, and setting a five-year goal for ... http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/19/afghanistan-president-karzai-inaugural-speech-top-four-points/ LIMA, PERU – Keiko Fujimori, daughter of jailed former president Alberto Fujimori, came within an inch of admitting Wednesday that she would pardon her jailed father if she is elected president in 2011. Prodded repeatedly during a meeting with group of American journalists visiting Peru, she said she did not want ... http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/19/would-peru-lawmaker-keiko-fujimori-free-her-jailed-dad/ BEIJING – A funny thing happened on the way from the printers. Before US President Barack Obama left China on Wednesday, he gave a brief exclusive interview to “Southern Weekend,” one of the bolder voices on the Chinese press scene. But when the paper arrived in subscribers’ mailboxes in Beijing ... http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/19/obama-interview-in-china-paper-partly-cut-%e2%80%93-censorship/ Quelle scandale! It’s not easy to get an Irishman to sympathize with the collective pain of the British, but French soccer star Thierry Henry may have done just that. In a move reminiscent of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God,” in which he helped his team beat England in ... http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/18/world-cup-qualifier-france-gets-a-hand-in-win-over-ireland/ Former Vice Presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin has been something of a news generating machine of late, thanks to the publicity tour for her recently released memoir, "Going Rogue." Whether a minor public spat with Levi Johnston (father of her grandson), her appearance with daytime talk show queen Oprah ... http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/18/sarah-palin-urges-israel-settlement-expansion-attacks-barack-obama/ • A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent. RAMALLAH, WEST BANK – Palestinians closely identified with Fatah – the mainstream faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the leading force of the Palestinian Authority (PA) – have long since fallen out of love with Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite ... http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/18/west-bank-al-jazeera-loses-love-over-palestinian-national-anthem-parody/