Peace

LONDON - While some Europeans swelled with pride when the European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize, howls of derision erupted from the continent's large band of skeptics. To many in the 27-nation bloc, the EU is an unwieldy and unloved agglomeration overseen by a top-heavy bureaucracy devoted to creating arcane regulations about everything from cheese to fishing quotas. Set up with noble goals after the devastation of World War II, the EU now appears to critics to be impotent amid a debt crisis that has widened north-south divisions, threatened the euro currency and plunged several members, from Greece to Ireland to Spain, into economic turmoil.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland - A large Protestant march through the heart of Northern Ireland's capital began peacefully on Saturday amid a heavy security presence. Thousands were participating in one of Belfast's biggest parades in years, and police were deployed in force to prevent street clashes between marchers and Northern Ireland's Catholic minority. Members of the various Protestant "loyal orders," so-called because they're loyal to Great Britain, trooped down Belfast streets festooned with buttons, tassels, and other ceremonial gear, banging drums and playing music along the six-mile route from the capital's City Hall to Stormont, the seat of Northern Ireland's parliament.

UNITED NATIONS - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded international action to stop the war in Syria, telling a somber gathering of world leaders Tuesday that the 18-month conflict had become "a regional calamity with global ramifications. " Opening the U.N. General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting, Ban said in his state of the world speech that he was sounding the alarm about widespread insecurity, inequality, and intolerance in many countries. Putting the spotlight on Syria, the U.N. chief said: "The international community should not look the other way as violence spirals out of control.

When your home includes your workplace and you spend most of your time there, it becomes more to you than just a place to sleep, eat, and occasionally entertain. That's the perspective from which Rich Brome, 34, who heads a Web design and cellphone consulting service, searched for a house in the Washington Square West neighborhood about five years ago. "I love the neighborhood where I lived a few blocks away and don't own a car, didn't want to buy one," Brome says. "I looked at about 20 houses before I found this one. " A man of definite opinions, he adds, "I found this and knew it was the one and knew what I would do for it, beginning with an addition.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's "Day of Love for the Prophet" turned into a deadly day of gunfire, tear gas, and arson. Thousands angered by an anti-Muslim film ignored pleas for peaceful rallies and rampaged in several Pakistani cities Friday in battles with police that killed 19 people and touched off criticism of a government decision to declare a national holiday to proclaim devotion for the Prophet Muhammad. The film, which was produced in the United States and denigrates the prophet, has outraged many in the Muslim world in the 10 days since it attracted attention on the Internet, and there were new, mostly peaceful protest marches in a half-dozen countries from Asia to the Middle East.

HAVANA - Colombia's main leftist rebel group named three negotiators Thursday for October peace talks in Norway, including a high-ranking guerrilla known as Simon Trinidad who is imprisoned in the United States. Mauricio Jaramillo, a spokesman and top leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, told reporters in Havana that the two others would be Ivan Marquez, a participant in past peace talks and a member of the FARC's six-person ruling secretariat, and Jose Santrich, a second-tier leader.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's supreme leader said Friday that developing nations have a greater right than the United States or NATO to intervene in Syria, signaling an effort to lead a diplomatic push over efforts to resolve the crisis. The comments came a day after Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi had embarrassed the Iran by criticizing its ally, Syria, during a speech at the summit of the Nonaligned Movement, a grouping of about 120 nations. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met Friday with Syria's prime minister, Wael Nader al-Halqi, and Damascus' delegation to the conference.

As Tropical Storm Isaac threatens to become a Caribbean hurricane that could hit Florida in time for the Republican National Convention next week, here are some smartphone applications to put detailed weather data at your fingertips. The site HurricaneSoftware.com makes free hurricane tracking apps for Android, Apple and Windows Phone 7. Each platform's app has a different name: Hurricane Software for Android; iHurricane HD for Apple; Tracking the Eye for Windows. Ad-free versions cost $2.99.

Philadelphia will host a monster music festival Labor Day weekend featuring Jay-Z, Pearl Jam, Rick Ross, Drake, Skrillex, and Run-DMC on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, one of the city's central arteries, our museum mile and cultural backyard. Organizers hope to attract 50,000 patrons on each day of the two-day event. The central difference, and huge break with previous Parkway concerts, is that the Budweiser-sponsored spectacle isn't free. Instead of Lollapalooza, it's Brewzapalooza on the Bud Franklin Parkway.

BEIRUT - The Syrian government on Saturday welcomed the naming of a former Algerian diplomat as the U.N.'s new point man in efforts to halt the country's escalating civil war. Activists reported more shelling by regime troops, including an air attack on a northern border town where scores died last week. In a statement, the office of Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa not only expressed support for Lakhdar Brahimi, it also denied reports circulating in Arab media that Sharaa had defected to the opposition.