World News from Times Online

Wootton Bassett salutes war dead from Afghanistan for 100th time

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Yesterday was the 100th time that the small Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett has fallen silent as the bodies of servicemen killed in Afghanistan passed along the High Street.

Oprah Winfrey says goodbye to television talk show after 25 years

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Tears in her eyes and her voice breaking, the billionaire talk show host Oprah Winfrey yesterday told her legions of viewers: “I love this show, this show has been my life — and I love it enough to know when it’s time to say goodbye.”

Organised crime mushrooms as French fungi trade becomes lucrative

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

It is a great French autumnal tradition that furnishes an essential ingredient in some of the nation’s finest dishes. Yet the once tranquil pastime of mushroom hunting has fallen victim to organised crime as city-based gangs descend on the countryside in search of a fungus that brings quick, easy profits.

Mumbai’s iconic hotel, the Taj, rises from ashes after terror attack

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

It is the stories woven into its history that make a truly great hotel, according to Karambir Singh Kang, the general manager of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower.

Unburied bodies tell the tale of Detroit — a city in despair

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The abandoned corpses, in white body bags with number tags tied to each toe, lie one above the other on steel racks inside a giant freezer in Detroit’s central mortuary, like discarded shoes in the back of a wardrobe.

Gordon Brown 'went for second best to spite Tories'

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Gordon Brown rejected advice from Lord Mandelson to seek one of the big economic posts in the European Commission for Britain once it was clear that Tony Blair could not succeed in becoming Europe’s first president, The Times has learnt. Instead he settled for the post of EU High Representative for Baroness Ashton of Upholland.

Roma families experience the dark side of the Velvet Revolution

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

In the grimy corridors and cramped rooms of the municipal hostel on Ceskova Street, communist-era methods of social control are thriving. There has been no revolution here, velvet or otherwise, in the 20 years since the Czech Republic gained its freedom.

David Headley: quiet American with alleged links to Mumbai massacre

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

In almost every way, David Headley was the perfect neighbour. When the 49-year-old American citizen began renting an apartment in Mumbai last year he charmed his landlord, treated his laundry boy with respect, and befriended Bollywood figures at a local gym.

Drilling into volcano will not make it erupt, scientists say

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

After lying dormant for 4,000 years, one of Europe’s most powerful volcanoes, Campi Flegrei near Naples, is showing signs of life.

'Russian ties are key' president hopeful Viktor Yanukovych says

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The man leading the race to become Ukraine’s next president has declared his determination to bury its pro-Western Orange Revolution and repair relations with Russia.

Egypt erupts in anti-Algeria riots after World Cup football defeat

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Hundreds of Egyptian security forces were in tense anticipation of riots that have been locally dubbed the “football wars”.

Lancashire lass largely unknown in home town

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:46 GMT

Folk have long memories in Up Holland, a Lancashire mining village recorded in the Domesday Book, but few could put a name yesterday to the features of its most illustrious daughter.

Václav Havel: the unlikely leader who became a symbol of liberation

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:10 GMT

There’s one sound I shall never forget about the revolution that bustled the Communists out of power in Czechoslovakia 20 years ago: the jangling of door keys. Every night for a week, crowds gathered in Prague’s Wenceslas Square.

Paul and Rachel Chandler: we could be dead within a week

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:17:12 GMT

A British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates have appealed directly for the British Government to open talks for their release, fearing that they may be killed within a week.

Suicide model Daul Kim wrote blog about pressure of catwalk

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:21:51 GMT

A leading fashion model who had worked for Chanel has been found hanged in her Paris flat after leaving a final post on her blog that read: “Say hi to forever.”

Death certificate is imprinted on the Shroud of Turin, says Vatican scholar

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:39:52 GMT

A Vatican scholar claims to have deciphered the "death certificate" imprinted on the Shroud of Turin, or Holy Shroud, a linen cloth revered by Christians and held by many to bear the image of the crucified Jesus.

Lady Ashton's ascent provokes dismay among former Westminster colleagues

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:29:57 GMT

The appointment as a little-known peer to become Europe's first "foreign minister" stunned and dismayed many in Westminster today, prompting a barrage of briefing against Britain's most senior female politician.

Russian priest and Muslim critic, Daniil Sysoyev, assassinated in church

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:50:00 GMT

A Russian Orthodox priest known for his outspoken criticism of Islam and attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity has been assassinated in his Moscow church.

Why 'nonentities' is a fair description of Mr Van Rompuy and Lady Ashton

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:18:22 GMT

A groan of disappointment went up from the commentariat of old Europe today. After the long and painful birth of the Lisbon treaty, the Union has, they say, anointed nonentities to its two new supremo posts.

Q&A: what next for Van Rompuy and Lady Ashton?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:29:35 GMT

The Greens have called this a new low for Europe. What's the view from Brussels?

Baroness Ashton says she will prove 'best person for the job'

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:42:52 GMT

The little-known Labour peer who emerged as the surprise choice to be Europe's first "foreign minister" declared today that she was determined to prove she was the best person for the job.

Second conjoined twin 'waking slowly'

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:29:27 GMT

The second girl who was separated from her conjoined twin during a marathon operation in Melbourne this week is being slowly woken from her induced coma, doctors say

Peruvian gang 'killed victims for their fat'

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:15:07 GMT

Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing around 60 people to sell their fat on the blackmarket for cosmetic use in Europe, authorities say.

Oprah calls it a day

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:32:38 GMT

Oprah Winfrey, the Queen of the American talk show, is to give up her sofa after 25 years of A-List interviews, weepy personal confessions, and spectacular audience give-aways — in spite of a contract that saw her earn an estimated $275 million ($£166 million) last year alone.

Archbishop tells Pope: there will be no turning back on women priests

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:01:45 GMT

The Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday made his most outspoken challenge to the Roman Catholic Church since the Pope invited disaffected Anglicans to switch to Rome.