Free Republic

The UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi has apologised to the Syrian people after peace talks in Geneva ended without making progress. He had held final discussions with both sides in Geneva in a last-ditch bid to break the stalemate between the Syrian government and opposition. Mr Brahimi said a key sticking point was the government's refusal to talk about a transitional governing body. No date has been set for a third round of talks. The UK and France have blamed President Assad's government for the failure of the talks. The conflict in Syria has claimed more than 100,000 lives since March...

Labour MP David Lammy has apologised after accusing the BBC of being racist following its tweet which said "LIVE VIDEO: Chimney of Sistine Chapel as conclave votes for #Pope - will smoke be black or white?" Lammy replied saying: "This tweet from the BBC is crass and unnecessary. Do we really need silly innuendo about the race of the next Pope?" However, after receiving several messages alerting him to the fact that black smoke appears from a Vatican chimney when no decision has been made, and white smoke alerts the public to the election of a new Pope, the politician...

Immediately following two separate strip-searches of grandmothers well into their 80s last year, the Transportation Security Administration initially said they merely followed screening procedures. But in a letter discussing the cases of both Ruth Sherman, 89, and Lenore Zimmerman, 85, the federal agency admitted that their agents deviated from standard practise. While they apologised for the treatment of these two elderly women, both Ms Sherman and Ms Zimmerman stick to their stories and said they were forced to strip in humiliating circumstances.

The United States has apologised for controversial remarks made by a US diplomat who spoke of "dark and dirty" Indians, calling the comments "inappropriate". US Vice-Consul Maureen Chao told Indian students on Friday that her "skin became dirty and dark like the Tamilians" after a long train journey, according to Indian media -- referring to people from the southern state of Tamil Nadu. During her speech in the Tamil Nadu capital, Chennai, Chao was quoted as saying: "I was on a 24-hour train trip from Delhi to (the eastern Indian state of) Orissa. "But, after 72 hours,

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has apologised to the European Parliament for what he has described as his "ironic" comments about a German member of the parliament. The chair of the parliament says this means the incident is now closed. Last week, following his initial speech to parliament as head of the European Council, Mr Berlusconi came in for sharp criticism from German MEP Martin Schulz. Mr Berlusconi responded by saying Mr Schulz would be perfect to play the role of a concentration camp guard in a film. Italy's junior Economics Minister Stefano Stefani has already invited German Chancellor Gerhard...