International Headlines

Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 05:02:04 -0400
>TOP STORIES as of 0900 GMT -- 02 September, 2010

> MIDEAST CONFLICT CENTER STAGE IN WASHINGTON
Ahead of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians on
Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama said he was "hopeful --
cautiously hopeful" for a two-state solution.

> 3 BABIES FOUND BURIED AT DUTCH HOME
Dutch investigators were trying to determine Thursday whether
the bodies of three babies found at a home in the Netherlands
belong to the woman who lived there.

> DEATH TOLL TOPS 30 IN LAHORE BLASTS
The death toll from a trio of suicide attacks during a Shiite
processions in Lahore, Pakistan, grew to 31 Thursday,
authorities said Thursday.

> HURRICANE HEADS FOR U.S. EAST COAST
Hurricane Earl took aim on the Outer Banks of North Carolina
early Thursday as the powerful storm prepared to take a swipe at
the Eastern Seaboard.

> DUTCH FREE TWO MEN HELD IN TERROR PROBE
Two Yemeni men arrested as possible terror suspects at Schiphol
International Airport in the Netherlands have been cleared of
wrongdoing and freed, Dutch authorities said.

> U.S. TRANSFERS COMMAND IN IRAQ
Vice President Joe Biden marks the transfer of U.S. military
command in Iraq by promising that American engagement with
Baghdad "will continue."

> POLICE: 16 MIGRANTS KIDNAPPED IN MEXICO
At least 16 migrants, including a woman, were being held for
ransom by human smugglers in Tijuana, Mexico, according to a
migrant who was freed, authorities said late Wednesday.

> MOZAMBIQUE FOOD RIOTS TURN DEADLY
Three people died and dozens were injured in riots over
increases in the price of bread, water, energy and other
critical goods in Mozambique, the southern African nation's
official news agency reported Wednesday.

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BUSINESS
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> DATA BOOST FROM ECONOMIC GIANTS
A surprise bounce in manufacturing activity in the world's two
biggest economies in August cheered investors as it ended the
bleak run of US economic data over the summer.

> INDIA WANTS SKYPE, GOOGLE DATA
India is extending a crackdown on BlackBerry to other e-mail and
internet communications providers, including Skype and Google, a
senior government official said on Wednesday.

> ECO-TOURISM IN WAR-TORN SIERRA LEONE
For many people, the name Sierra Leone still conjures up images
of the country's decade-long civil war and subsequent war crimes
trials.