What The World's Newspapers Are Saying

A London newspaper stand.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

A London newspaper stand.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

(Editor's Note: Starting this week, we're introducing a weekday feature of headlines from newspapers around the world.)

Britain's Guardian reports on former minister David Maclean, a member of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party, saying Britain's spy agencies may be operating outside the law in the mass surveillance of the Internet. His remarks come amid revelations about surveillance programs unveiled by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

In the Middle East, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reports on negotiations between Western nations and Iran in Geneva over the Islamic republic's nuclear program. It says the U.S. will continue to pressure Tehran until it has taken major steps to halt the program.

Lebanon's Daily Star reports that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said an international conference to set up a transitional government in Syria must be organized soon.

South Africa's Cape Times says a veteran member of the African National Congress lodged a complaint against a fellow party official for making allegedly anti-Semitic comments in Cape Town last week.

The China Daily reports on Britain's plan to make it easier for Chinese tourists and investors to visit the country.

India's Hindu newspaper says three senior officials were suspended in the wake of the deadly stampede near a temple in the town of Ratangarh in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. More than 100 people were killed in the stampede on a bridge that people feared was near collapse.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/10/15/234627132/what-the-worlds-newspapers-are-saying?ft=1&f=1004
Tags: thursday night football   emmys   nbc   North West   elvis presley  

Cal Ripken Jr.'s Mom -- Threatened at Gunpoint ... AGAIN

Cal Ripken Jr.'s Mom
Threatened at Gunpoint
... AGAIN

Breaking News

There's something about Cal Ripken Jr.'s mom -- because cops say she was just threatened at gunpoint in Maryland ... barely a year after she was abducted at gunpoint in the same area.

Law enforcement in Aberdeen tell TMZ, Violet Ripken was leaving an NBRS bank Tuesday when she was confronted by a handgun-wielding man in the parking lot. Vi told cops the man demanded her car.

At that point, cops say Cal's mom was able to sound the panic alarm on the vehicle, and the man fled. He was later apprehended by police.

Thankfully, Cal's mom wasn't hurt during the exchange -- but it's still a scary reminder of last July, when Violet was abducted at gunpoint, forced into a car, and held against her will for 23 hours.

She was ultimately found unharmed, but still ... scary.

Get TMZ Breaking News alerts to your inbox

Source: http://www.tmz.com/2013/10/15/cal-ripken-mother-violet-threatened-gunpoint/
Related Topics: eminem   VMA Awards   Desiree And Chris   Jennifer Rosoff   phil mickelson  

Is The U.S. In A Debt Crisis?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=234730454&ft=1&f=1014
Category: The Walking Dead Season 4   dallas cowboys   harry potter   Demi Lovato   H&m  

Video: Berlusconi's girl dishes on boyfriend

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/53245549/
Related Topics: adrian peterson   Shannon Sharpe   jennifer lawrence   Richard Sherman   von miller  

Optimism, But Still No Debt Deal, On Capitol Hill

President Obama postponed a meeting with congressional leadership Monday afternoon to give Senate leaders more time to work on a deal to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. It's being taken as a sign that progress is being made, but the president warned that damage from a default on the nation's debts would dwarf the economic impact of the partial government shutdown.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=234234145&ft=1&f=1014
Category: columbus day   kris jenner   zach mettenberger   Hyperloop   Premios Juventud 2013  

Berlin museum seeks return of ancient gold tablet

A renowned Berlin antiquities museum is trying to get back an ancient gold tablet excavated from an Assyrian temple that a Holocaust survivor somehow obtained after World War II.

Who gets it is up to New York's top court, which is set to hear arguments Tuesday.

The 9.5-gram tablet, about the size of a credit card, was excavated a century ago by German archaeologists from the Ishtar Temple in what is now northern Iraq. It went on display in Berlin in 1934, was put in storage as the war began and later disappeared.

Riven Flamenbaum brought it to the U.S. after surviving the Auschwitz concentration camp and settling on Long Island. Family lore says he had traded two packs of cigarettes to a Russian soldier for the tablet in the chaotic days at the end of the war.

Flamenbaum's family is trying to keep the 3,200-year-old relic, arguing the museum forfeited any claim to ownership by waiting 60 years to seek its return.

Lawyers for the Vorderasiatisches Museum, a branch of the Pergamon Museum, said it didn't know Flamenbaum had the tablet until 2006, three years after he died.

Steven Schlesinger, the lawyer representing the estate, said any claim is complicated by the passage of so much time and Flamenbaum's death. He said he believes Flamenbaum was trading Red Cross packages and anything else he could get for silver and gold.

The tablet is now in a safe deposit box in New York. One recent estimate put its value at $10 million, he said, and the family wants to donate it to the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

Lower courts were split on the decision, leading to the latest appeal.

According to court documents, the tablet dates to 1243 to 1207 B.C., the reign of King Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria. Placed in the foundation of the temple of a fertility goddess, its 21 lines call on those who find the temple to honor the king's name.

The tablet was excavated by German archaeologists from about 1908 to 1914 in what was then the Ottoman Empire, with Germany giving half the found antiquities to Istanbul, Raymond Dowd, the museum's lawyer, said. The modern state of Iraq has declined to claim it, he said.

In 1945, the Berlin museum's premises was overrun, with many items taken by Russia, others by German troops and some pilfered by people who took shelter in the museum, Dowd said. The museum director was not in a position to say who took it, only that it disappeared.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-15-Gold%20Relic%20Dispute/id-ed949befc0f74013a66c0c3e9c28985a
Tags: Helen Lasichanh   zach mettenberger   Seamus Heaney   tesla model s   Kensington Palace  

Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny ‘The X-Files’ 20th Anniversary Reunion (Video)

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny who portray ‘The X-Files’ iconic Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, had a memorable 20th anniversary reunion appearance at The Paley Center in New York City which seemed to confirm rumors of a third movie in the popular sci-fi supernatural TV series turned big screen adventure. See video highlights and get the details! It’s been 20 years since the 1993 premiere of the popular TV series on Fox, which was created by Chris Carter and ran nine seasons through 2002. The 45-year-old Gillian Anderson and the 53-year-old David Duchovny — who portrayed FBI Special Agent Dr. Dana Scully and FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder, respectively though all the years, plus the two feature films — took part in a special 20th anniversary event at The Paley Center for Media NYC on Saturday entitled “The Truth is Here.” Earlier that same day during a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) live online event, the pair generated quite a buzz and an explosion of Twitter when spoke of a possible upcoming “The X-Files 3″ movie. Duchovny said “[Chris Carter] claims to be working on a script, and if he does do that and Fox wants to make it…Gillian will [...]Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/fi7RATjY7Qs/
Category: Ed Sheeran   julianne hough   dexter   Arsenal   will smith