Hong Kong protesters call for fresh rallies

Hong Kong protesters have called for a fresh round of protests after talks with the city's government, aimed at defusing a standoff that sparked weeks of demonstrations, collapsed. The city's chief secretary, Carrie Lam, said the talks scheduled for Friday were called off because of the students' unswerving demands for universal suffrage, which she said was not in accordance with the city's mini-constitution, and what she described as their illegal occupation of parts of the city and calls for people to rally.

'Priceless' Civil War Photo of Slave Selina Gray Found on eBay

A National Park Service volunteer browsing on eBay has made an astonishing discovery: a long-lost photo that park officials have described as a "priceless" piece of Civil War history. The stereo view image depicts Selina Gray (at right, above), an enslaved woman who was head housekeeper at the Virginia home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. NPS spokesman Lee Werst described Gray as a "pivotal but little-known figure in our nation's history." Her bravery in defending the house after Gen. Lee's family left helped to save cherished heirlooms that had once belonged to President George Washington.

advertisement advertisement Juarez Cartel Leader Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Arrested in Mexico

The leader of the notorious Juarez drug cartel was arrested at a seemingly routine traffic checkpoint, Mexican authorities said Thursday. The FBI had offered a $5 million reward for Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, 51. Known as "The Viceroy," he took over the Juarez Cartel when his brother, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, died in 1997 as a result of botched cosmetic surgery. He also oversaw a brutal turf war with the rival Sinaloa Cartel that is believed to have killed more than 8,000 people from 2009 to 2011 in Ciudad Juarez, across the Mexican border from El Paso, Texas.

More deaths in India and Pakistan clashes

India's defence minister has asked Pakistan to stop its shelling in the disputed Kashmir region and warned it would make such attacks "unaffordable," as the death toll in cross-border firing climbed to at least 17 after five additional fatalities were reported overnight.
"If Pakistan persists with this adventurism, our forces will make cost of this adventurism unaffordable for it," Arun Jaitley told journalists in New Delhi on Thursday.
"Pakistan should stop this unprovoked firing and shelling if it wants peace on the border."
At least two people, including a woman, were killed in the Pakistani border town of Sialkot in overnight firing by Indian troops, according to the website of Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.
Pakistan said it was capable of responding "befittingly" to Indian actions.
"We do not want the situation on the borders of two nuclear neighbours to escalate into confrontation," the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Palestinian unity government meets in Gaza

The meeting is the first ever to be held in Gaza, four months after the Palestinian unity government was sworn in.

The Palestinian unity government held its first session in Gaza since 2007 [AP]

The Palestinian unity government has held its first meeting in war-torn Gaza, the first cabinet session since 2007, when a brief armed confrontation soured relations between Hamas and Fatah faction.
Thursday's meeting was the first in the besieged enclave, and the first that Gaza-based ministers could attend, after Israel blocked their travel to the West Bank to be sworn in.
"This is the government of all of Palestine... therefore I demand all factions support the government in rebuilding the Gaza strip and restoring a normal way of life," Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said during the meeting.

Ebola-hit states say world response is slow

World Bank chief says "perhaps even Africa" is at risk, as more cases of infection are diagnosed worldwide. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said slow response to Ebola puts Africa at stake [Reuters]

Leaders of West African nations plagued by Ebola said the deadly virus is outpacing the world's response to it, jeapordising the future of "perhaps Africa." "Ladies and gentleman, unless we quickly contain and stop the Ebola epidemic, nothing less than the future of not only West Africa - but perhaps even Africa is at stake," Jim Yong Kim, President of World Bank, said on Thursday at a meeting on the Ebola response. "Our people are dying,'' Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma said on Thursday by videoconference at the meeting. Koroma said the world is not responding fast enough as doctors and nurses continue to die.

Tina Fey Throws a Sliver of Shade at Naked Lena Dunham

Elle Magazine

Tina Fey is getting candid on her thoughts on who many see as her TV-writer successor -- Girls creator Lena Dunham.

In a new interview with Elle magazine for their 21st annual Women in Hollywood Awards, the 44-year-old 30 Rock creator comments on Dunham's frequent on-screen nudity, and how her philosophy greatly differs from her.