International

AFP - Nigerian authorities on Tuesday banned night time use of motorcycles in a northern state after a spate of killings by bike-riding gunmen suspected of being Islamist sect members.

AP - The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned Tuesday an American church's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book could endanger U.S. troops in the country and Americans worldwide.

AP - Strikes hobbled public transit across France and in London on Tuesday, with tourists and commuters bearing the brunt of a wave of discontent over government austerity measures.

Time.com - More than 600 candidates are running for office out of Afghanistan's capital because it isn't safe to campaign in the provinces

Time.com - Pushing for electoral reform is tricky when the strongman in power is also a key ally against extremist violence

AP - Iran's nuclear chief said Tehran has the right to bar some U.N. inspectors from monitoring its disputed nuclear program, the semiofficial Isna news agency reported.

Reuters - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard secured a wafer thin parliamentary majority on Tuesday, ending a political impasse but hardly cheering investors worried about the fragility of her government and its plans to tax mining profits.

AP - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he has asked the U.S. to settle a dispute with Israel over settlement expansion that is threatening to derail Mideast peace talks.

AP - On a hilltop overlooking Caracas, dozens of shacks made of wood scraps and corrugated zinc have risen among tall weeds mdash; a new slum tacked on to an old one as the poor face harder times in Venezuela.

Reuters - The U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan has requested another 2,000 troops for the foreign force fighting the Taliban insurgency, despite waning support for the war in troop-contributing nations, NATO officials said.

AP - Searchers on Monday pulled more bodies from a mud-covered highway where back-to-back landslides buried bus passengers and people trying to save them. Yet more mudslides helped raise Guatemala's official death toll to 44 after days of torrential rains.

AP - How many cease-fires can you announce and break before everyone stops paying attention?

The Christian Science Monitor - The rise of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf is a now-familiar tale. Tiny societies of pearl divers, coastal merchants, and nomadic Bedouin were transformed in the last half of the 20th century by oil and natural-gas wealth. Sparkling office towers and hotels sprang into the muggy air, the monarchs that rule these tiny emirates became bywords for financial excess, and newspapers described the region's economic miracle.

Reuters - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave a strong hint on Monday that he would run for president in 2012, a step that would almost certainly give him a second spell as Kremlin chief.

AP - The lawyer for an Iranian woman sentenced to be stoned on an adultery conviction said Monday that he and her children are worried the delayed execution could be carried out soon with the end of a moratorium on death sentences for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

AP - The U.N. atomic agency expressed alarm Monday about Iran's decision to bar some of its inspectors, suggesting that its efforts to monitor the country's nuclear program were suffering as a result.

AFP - Troop contributions for UN peacekeeping missions are helping African nations build a buffer against criticism over democratic and human rights failings, analysts said Monday.

AP - Mexican authorities urged people to move to shelters while officials in Texas distributed sandbags and warned of flash floods as Tropical Storm Hermine headed toward the northwestern Gulf coast on Monday.

AP - Lebanon's Western-backed prime minister made a startling reversal Monday and said it was a mistake to accuse Syria of the massive 2005 truck bombing that killed his father, claiming the charge was politically motivated.

Time.com - As the scandal surrounding the L'OrÉal billions further entwines Eric Woerth, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's support for his labor minister could cost him the next election