International Headline News

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:01:08 -0400
>TOP STORIES as of 0800 HKT -- 16 March, 2010

> VICTIMS WITH TIES TO U.S. WERE TARGETED, MEXICAN MAYOR SAYS Authorities believe killers targeted a pregnant woman and two
others connected with a U.S. consulate killed in drive-by
shootings, a Mexico mayor has said.

> ISRAEL MOVES TO END WEST BANK PROTESTS
In a bid to end what it calls illegal riots, the Israeli
military will prohibit outsider access to areas in two occupied
West Bank villages one day a week, according to a statement
explaining the move.

> EX-DIOCESE SUSPENDS SEX ABUSE PRIEST
A priest convicted of sexually abusing children -- and whose
subsequent move to another location was approved by the pope
when he was a cardinal -- is suspended.

> LIGHTS ON IN CHILE AFTER HUGE BLACKOUT
Electricity was restored Monday to all of Chile after an
overheated transformer caused a blackout Sunday over 90 percent
of the country, an official with Chile's largest electric
company said.

> U.N. CHIEF: HAITI AID EFFORT 'NOT ENOUGH'
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has promised Haitians he is
focused on maintaining donor solidarity as the quake-torn nation
struggles to rebuild, the organization said.

> THAI PM REJECTS PROTESTERS' DEMANDS
Anti-government protesters threatened Monday to begin collecting
hundreds of liters of blood to toss on official buildings as
they step up their efforts to bring down Thai Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva's administration.

> SEVEN DEAD AS STORM BATTERS U.S.
Crews worked to restore power to more than 400,000 homes as a
powerful low-pressure system churned off the Eastern Seaboard on
Monday.

> BA TO LEASE PLANES DURING STRIKE
Saying it plans to lease aircraft and provide replacement
workers, British Airways on Monday unveiled an ambitious
contingency plan in preparation for the first of two strikes by
the union members representing the airline's cabin crews.

BUSINESS
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> FRENCH WARN BERLIN OVER EUROZONE
Germany's trade surpluses built on holding down labor costs may
be unsustainable for the other countries in the eurozone,
France's finance minister said in an unusually blunt warning to
Berlin.

> CHINESE LEADER REJECTS CURRENCY PRESSURE
China is bracing for another tough year despite economic growth,
but opposes foreign pressure to appreciate the value of its
currency, Premier Wen Jiabao says.