By Lee-Anne Goodman, The Canadian Press
WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama squared off Wednesday night in a fiery presidential debate that delved into negative campaigning and saw McCain make one of his most forceful efforts to date to distance himself from President George W. Bush.
“Senator Obama, I am not President Bush,” [...]

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By The Canadian Press
CALGARY - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is stealing a page from Stephane Dion’s election playbook with a six-point economic plan that includes a first ministers conference.
Harper says the newly elected Conservative minority government will also issue a fiscal update before the end of next month to address the global economic crisis. [...]

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JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - More than 100 tonnes of ivory will go on auction in four southern African countries in two weeks, in the first sale of stockpiled elephant ivory in nearly a decade, wildlife groups said Wednesday.
The sales were approved in July by the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and auctions [...]

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By Mariam Karouny
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Washington and Baghdad have reached a final agreement after months of talks on a pact that would require U.S. forces to withdraw from Iraq by 2011, U.S. and Iraqi officials said on Wednesday.
The bilateral pact replaces a U.N. Security Council resolution enacted after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 [...]

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By The Associated Press
ZURICH, Switzerland - Third-seeded Venus Williams beat Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Zurich Open.
The 28-year-old American saved four break points in the match, one in the first set and three in the second. Bondarenko saved two match points while serving at 5-3, but [...]

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JERUSALEM (AFP) - Thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the globe took to the streets of Jerusalem on Wednesday, singing hymns and swaying in the autumn sunlight in a colourful parade of support for Israel.
The Papua New Guinea delegation shimmied down the parade route in traditional grass skirts and body paint, the Singapore delegation delicately [...]

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Waki fails to name killers
BY BERNARD MOMANYI
NAIROBI, October 15 – The politicians, business leaders and senior government officials who funded or organised mass murder and wanton destruction of property early this year following the 2007 disputed poll will remain secret for now.

The Waki Commission of Inquiry into Post Election Violence (CIPEV) fell short of naming [...]

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BY PHILIP SAMBU
NAIROBI, October 15 - Preparations for the Africa Zone 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifiers in Tunisia will take a step up this weekend when the national sevens team holds a three day training camp in Mombasa.
The choice of Mombasa for the camp was based primarily on the fact that its climatic [...]

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HARARE (AFP) - Former South African leader Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday pushed Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his main rival to settle their feud over disputed cabinet posts under a faltering power-sharing deal.
In a second day of lengthy talks, Mbeki was believed to be mediating between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to reach an [...]

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