International Headline News

Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 20:02:04 -0500
TOP STORIES as of 0900 HKT -- 05 March, 2010

> BOMBS MAR EARLY VOTING IN IRAQ
A series of bomb attacks disrupted voting as the polls opened in
Iraq's national elections, leaving a total of 12 people dead and
another 47 wounded.

> CHILE PRESIDENT TOURS QUAKE DEVASTATION
More aftershocks rocked parts of Chile early Thursday, five days
after a massive earthquake that killed more than 800 people.

> 4 MEN GUILTY OF GERMAN TERROR PLOT
A German court finds four men guilty of plotting a terrorist
attack against Western targets that could have eclipsed the
deadly attacks on trains in London and Madrid.

> PASSENGER SHIPS STUCK IN SWEDISH ICE
Thirty to 40 ships -- including several passenger ships -- were
stuck Thursday in ice off the coast of Sweden, said a spokesman
for the Maritime Search and Rescue Center in Gothenburg, Sweden.

> SCORES DEAD IN TEMPLE STAMPEDE
At least 63 people died at a crowded temple in northern India
Thursday when a gate crashed to the ground, triggering a
stampede, police said.

> THOUSANDS AT JOB FAIR FOR FELONS
More than 3,000 people turned out in downtown Houston, Texas,
Wednesday for a job fair designed for convicted felons.

> KNOX JURY EXPLAINS KERCHER KILLING THEORY
Italian jurors believed American Amanda Knox played a role in
killing her British roommate, Meredith Kercher -- a case which
garnered intense interest on both sides of the Atlantic.

> YEMEN ARRESTS 11 TERROR SUSPECTS
Security forces have arrested 11 al Qaeda suspects in the Yemeni
capital, the nation's official news agency reported Thursday.

BUSINESS
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> CHINA TO COOL RISING DEFENCE SPENDING
China on Thursday announced a sharp slowdown in the growth of
its official defence budget, a move expected to help Beijing
argue that fears of the country as a military threat are
overstated.

> GREECE OUTLINES PLAN TO CUT $5B DEFICIT
Facing firm demands from the European Union and financial
markets to cut its deficit, Greece announces cost-cutting
measures that will save the debt-challenged country €4
billion, $5.44 billion, this year.

> GOOGLE ATTACK DRIVEN BY NOVICES?
The computer attack which led Google to threaten leaving China
and created a firestorm between Washington and Beijing appears
to have been deployed by amateurs, according to an analysis by a
U.S. technology firm.