Worldwide News

DEEPTI HAJELA The Associated Press NEW YORK - Zenas Ackah has heard it all his life: What kind of name is that? You must not be from here. You must be foreign. Actually, no. Born in the United States, the 22-year-old college senior with the Greek first name and the Ghanian last name grew up in Philadelphia. But Ackah is hopeful that change is coming, that the idea of an “American” name will expand beyond monikers like Tom and Harry and Sally and Jane and Smith and Jones. He figures he’s got a strong weapon on his side , for at least the next four years, when people look to the most powerful American in the country, the “uber-American” if you will, they’ll be looking at President Barack…

Reuters - Saudi Arabia on Saturday identified $75 a barrel as a fair price for oil, the first time in years the world’s leading crude exporter has cited a price target.

A British link to the attacks was raised for the first time yesterday when a senior Indian official claimed that Britons were among the militants who had been arrested. Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra state, in which Bombay lies, was quoted on an Indian television station as saying that British citizens had…

Reuters - Hundreds of anti-government protesters forced several dozen Thai riot police to abandon a checkpoint on Saturday as they tightened their siege of the country’s main airport, witnesses said.

By David Ignatius Daily Star staff Saturday, November 29, 2008 - Powered by Absent some last-minute fireworks, President George W. Bush will leave office with a kind of double-failure on Iran: Administration hard-liners haven’t checked Tehran’s drive to acquire nuclear technology, and moderates haven’t engaged Iran in negotiation and dialogue. The strategic balance between the two countries is the opposite of what Bush had hoped to accomplish: Iran is stronger than it was eight years ago and the United States, fighting costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is weaker. Iran spurns America’s carrots, and dismisses its sticks. President-elect Barack Obama wants to open a serious dialogue with…

San Juan - The health of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner on hunger strike for more than three years has deteriorated sharply, his lawyer said in legal papers seeking an independent medical examination. Ahmed Zuhair appears to weigh no more than 45kg, more than 16kg less than the military says he weighed in August, attorney Ramzi Kassem said in a motion filed on Thursday in federal court in Washington. The military said in previous court documents that the Zuhair, an alleged Islamic militant, was about 62kg in August and in no immediate medical danger. Kassem said in an affidavit that the prisoner also appeared to be ill, vomiting repeatedly during meetings November 14-15 at the US base in Cuba….

PAKISTAN has struck a conciliatory tone and denied accusations of involvement in the Mumbai attacks, while Pakistani press warned India to stop pointing the finger of blame across the border. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani pledged in a telephone call yesterday to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh that he would send the chief of the country’s powerful intelligence service to India to help investigate the attacks. Mr Gilani also reminded Dr Singh his country has been a victim of terrorism, while his defence minister said he was "positive" that Pakistan had no involvement in…