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| Pakistan genuine about backing Afghan peace efforts: Afghan official Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 08:00 PM PST KABUL (Reuters) - Pakistan is genuine about backing the nascent Afghan peace process and shares the Kabul government's goal of transforming the Taliban insurgency into a political movement, a senior Afghan government official told Reuters. "This is the vision that they share," said the official, who is closely involved in reconciliation efforts. He also said recent face-to-face talks between the Taliban and Afghan officials in Paris were "enormously helpful" for peace efforts. (Reporting by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani) Full Story | Top |
| Navy SEAL commander dead in Afghanistan in suspected suicide Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 07:47 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commander of an elite U.S. Navy SEAL unit has died in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said on Sunday, and a U.S. military official said his death was being investigated as a suspected suicide. Commander Job Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died on Saturday of a non-combat related injury in central Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province, the Pentagon said in a statement. "This incident is currently under investigation," it said. Price, was assigned to a Naval Special Warfare unit in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and was the commanding officer of SEAL Team Four. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Sworn enemies could decide fate of weakened Indian government Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 04:22 PM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Sonia Gandhi, the usually reserved and poised leader of India's ruling Congress party, leapt from her front-bench seat in parliament last week to grab back a document that a lawmaker had snatched from a government minister's hands. She caught the lawmaker by the arm, some media reports said, but failed to retrieve the document before it was torn up. A minor scuffle ensued between members of Congress and the offending lawmaker's Samajwadi Party (SP). The extraordinary drama lasted less than a minute. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin visits India, eyes arms sales, trade and political ties Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 04:05 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Arms sales will be on the agenda when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits India on Monday to court a country that has traditionally been a top client. Putin's trip, his first to India since he started a new Kremlin six-year term in May, is a chance to reaffirm Russia's interest in India, long a regional ally and now a partner in the BRICS group of emerging market nations. In an article for publication in the Indian newspaper The Hindu on Monday, Putin stressed that "deepening friendship and cooperation with India is among the top priorities of our foreign policy". ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamist group claims kidnap of French national in Nigeria Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 03:15 PM PST KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian Islamist group Ansaru said on Sunday it was behind the kidnap of a French national last week, citing France's ban on full-face veils and its support for military action in Mali. Ansaru sent a message to Nigerian reporters saying it was holding 63-year-old Francis Colump, who was taken on December 19 when around 30 gunmen attacked his residence in the remote northern town of Rimi, close to the Niger border. The Nigerian police declined to comment on the claim but had already named Colump as the man abducted. ... Full Story | Top |
| Monti steps boldly into Italy election race - maybe Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 01:49 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has many unquestioned qualities but it is starting to seem that bold political decision-making may not be one of them. After keeping his supporters waiting for weeks to know whether he would lead them in Italy's upcoming election, Monti held an eagerly awaited news conference on Sunday - and announced that they would have to wait a little longer. For most of his 13 months in office Monti repeated that he would withdraw from politics when his term ended. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan's Bashir to give speech, after surgery last month Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 01:13 PM PST  KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir will address the nation and open a major dam on Sudan's national holiday next week, in one of his first major public appearances since undergoing surgery last month, state news agency SUNA said on Sunday. Sudanese blogs and newspapers had been speculating about Bashir's health because he has cut down public rallies in the past few months. The 68-year-old leader, who seized power in 1989, went to Saudi Arabia in November for what officials described as a "minor surgery". He also underwent surgery on his vocal cords in Qatar in August. ... Full Story | Top |
| Air strike kills dozens of Syrians waiting to buy bread Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 12:31 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Dozens of people were killed and many more wounded in a Syrian government air strike that hit a bakery where a crowd was queuing for bread on Sunday, activists said. If confirmed, the attack on Halfaya in central Syria, which was seized by rebels last week, would be one of the deadliest air strikes of Syria's civil war. Videos uploaded by activists showed dozens of bloodstained corpses lying amid rubble and shrapnel. An adolescent boy with both his feet blown off lay flailing in the middle of a road. "When I got there, I could see piles of bodies all over the ground. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran welcomes approval of new constitution in Egypt Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 11:45 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran welcomed on Sunday initial results that showed the approval of an Islamist-backed constitution in Egypt, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi to power in a June election, said an unofficial tally showed 64 percent of voters backed the charter after two rounds of voting that ended with a final ballot on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| CAR rebels seize biggest, most southern town yet Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 11:16 AM PST BANGUI (Reuters) - Rebels in the Central African Republic on Sunday seized the town of Bambari, the biggest prize yet in a push that has brought rebels to within 400 km (250 miles) of the capital, Bangui. "Bambari has fallen. It is a disaster," Mylene Abissini, a customs officer resident in the town, told Reuters by telephone. Local officials said government forces withdrew from the town, the country's third largest and the furthest south the rebel coalition has advanced, after two hours of fighting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Monti opens door to seeking new term Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 11:00 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Two days after stepping down, Mario Monti announced on Sunday he would consider seeking a second term as Italian prime minister if approached by allies committed to backing his austere brand of reforms. The former European commissioner, appointed to lead an unelected government of experts to save Italy from financial crisis a year ago, resigned on Friday but has faced growing calls to seek a second term at a parliamentary election on February 24-25. At stake is the leadership of the world's eighth largest economy, where recession and public debt of more than 2 trillion ($2. ... Full Story | Top |
| Somali pirates release longest-held hostages after 33 months Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 08:50 AM PST BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) - A ship and its crew of 22 sailors held by Somali pirates for almost three years have been freed after a two-week-long siege by maritime police, the government of the breakaway region of Puntland said on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dozens killed in air strike on bakery in central Syria Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 07:50 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Dozens of people were killed and wounded in an air strike on a bakery in Syria's central Hama province on Sunday, activists said, with some reporting up to 200 dead. "There is no way to really know yet how many people were killed. When I got there, I could see piles of bodies all over the ground. There were women and children," said Samer al-Hamawi, an activist in the town of Halfaya, where the strike hit. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rebel faction in Ethiopia says it wants peace talks Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 07:20 AM PST ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - A faction of a separatist rebel group said on Sunday it was seeking peace talks with the Ethiopian government, a development that could help stabilize a region with potential reserves of oil and gas. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has fought since the mid-1980s for independence for the mainly ethnic Somali province of Ogaden in southeast Ethiopia, bordering lawless Somalia. Abdinur Abdulaye Farah, the group's representative in east Africa, said his faction was in the Ethiopian capital hoping to have talks with the government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemen general may head new unit after army overhaul Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 07:17 AM PST  SANAA (Reuters) - A powerful army general who lost a command in a military reshuffle seen as vital to stabilizing Yemen may be given another senior post in the impoverished country's armed forces, sources at the presidency said on Sunday. Brigadier General Ahmed Saleh, whose Republican Guard was abolished in the shake-up ordered on Wednesday by his political rival, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, is expected to be named as the commander of a military region, the sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria government says its forces still strong Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 07:12 AM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's information minister on Sunday distanced the government from comments by the country's vice president that neither the rebels nor the forces of President Bashar al-Assad could win the civil war. Last week Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa said in a newspaper interview that the country needed a government of national unity since neither side could win militarily. "There are 23 million people in Syria with their own personal opinions, this was one of those 23 million," the information minister, Umran Ahid al-Za'bi, told a news conference in the Syrian capital Damascus. ... Full Story | Top |
| German politicians allege post-election plan to cut budget Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 06:39 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - The junior political partners of German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Sunday against any attempt to raise taxes after next year's election as Europe's champion of budget discipline struggles to balance its books. The Finance Ministry has denied a Der Spiegel news magazine report that Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wants to raise value-added tax to a uniform 19 percent, eliminating a discounted 7 percent rate on many items to bring in an extra 23 billion euros ($30 billion) each year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iranian businessman denies EU sanctions-busting accusation Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 06:12 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian businessman named by the European Union for breaching sanctions against Iran denied any wrongdoing on Sunday, saying his bank and other companies did not work for the Iranian government. "This is a mistake," Babak Zanjani told Reuters, speaking in his office in a high-rise tower in a financial district of Dubai a day after the sanctions came into force. Neither his Malaysia-based First Islamic Bank nor his more than 60 other companies had done anything wrong, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel ally Schavan rejects plagiarism charges Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 06:10 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - A close ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday rejected allegations of plagiarism in her 1980 doctoral thesis and said she wanted to stay in the cabinet beyond September's election. The accusations are similar to those that last year brought down Merkel's defense minister and heir-apparent, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, but could prove more damaging for the government only nine months before an election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptians back new constitution in referendum Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 05:39 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - An Islamist-backed Egyptian constitution won approval in a referendum, rival camps said on Sunday, after a vote the opposition said would sow deep social divisions in the Arab world's most populous nation. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled President Mohamed Mursi to power in a June election, said an unofficial tally showed 64 percent of voters backed the charter after two rounds of voting that ended with a final ballot on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Monti says would consider standing at election Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 05:11 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italian caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Sunday he would be ready to run for a second term in next year's election if he was asked to do so by political forces that adopted his reform agenda. The former European commissioner, appointed to lead an unelected government to save Italy from financial crisis a year ago, resigned on Friday but has faced growing calls to seek a second term at the election on February 24-25. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria's war-battered pound floats on rebel funds Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 05:01 AM PST  AMMAN (Reuters) - In Syria's eastern town of Deir al-Zor, a rebel commander flush with cash was swapping his dollars for Syrian pounds to pay fighters battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Money changers said that influx of foreign currency earlier this month helped push the pound's black market rate in the impoverished town up by at least 10 percent. Hundreds of kilometers away in Damascus, panicked Syrians bracing for more violence sold pounds for dollars, driving the pound, which has lost half its value since the anti-Assad uprising erupted in March last year, the other way. ... Full Story | Top |
| India's gang-rape protesters defy moves to quell outrage Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 04:21 AM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian government moved on Sunday to stamp out protests that have swelled in New Delhi since the gang-rape of a young woman, banning gatherings of more than five people, but still thousands poured into the heart of the capital to vent their anger. Police used tear gas and batons to hold crowds back from marching on the president's palace, just as they did the day before. About 30 to 35 people, including a few policemen, were being treated at a nearby hospital for injuries, two doctors said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Taliban bomb kills nine including minister at Pakistan rally Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 03:48 AM PST  PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Taliban Islamic militants bombed a political rally in Pakistan's northern city of Peshawar on Saturday, killing nine people including a provincial minister, officials said, the latest in a string of high-profile attacks. The provincial minister for local government, Bashir Ahmad Bilour, died of his wounds at Lady Reading Hospital, the hospital's chief executive Arshad Javed said. Police official Ibrahim Khan said one policeman had been killed and several were among the 30 people injured. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt court to rule on Mubarak appeal over life term on January 13 Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 03:24 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - A Cairo court has decided it will rule on the appeal of ousted former President Hosni Mubarak on January 13, a court source said on Sunday, a move that could lead to Mubarak being retried over the killing of protesters last year. Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli were sentenced to life in prison in June after a court ruled they were responsible for the deaths of around 850 people who were killed when security forces tried to quash an uprising against Mubarak. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemen army shells tribesmen for blocking pipeline repairs Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 01:55 AM PST SANAA (Reuters) - The Yemeni army launched an assault on Sunday using tanks and rockets on tribesmen blocking repairs to the country's main oil export pipeline, tribal sources said. Earlier this month, the military launched a major offensive against tribesmen suspected of repeatedly blowing up the Maarib pipeline and attacking power lines. At least 17 soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected al Qaeda militants. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel says Syria chemical weapons are secure for now Saturday, Dec 22, 2012 11:43 PM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Syria's chemical weapons are still secure despite the fact that President Bashar al-Assad has lost control of parts of the country, a senior Israeli defense official said on Sunday. Amos Gilad told Army Radio that the civil war between Assad and opposition forces fighting to topple him had become deadlocked, but that the Syrian leader showed no signs of heeding international calls to step down. "Suppose he (Assad) does leave, there could be chaos ... in the Middle East you never know who will come instead. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Pakistan's army chief makes Afghan peace "top priority" Saturday, Dec 22, 2012 10:15 PM PST  WANA, Pakistan/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's powerful army chief has made reconciling warring factions in Afghanistan a top priority, military officials and Western diplomats say, the newest and clearest sign yet that Islamabad means business in promoting peace with the Taliban. General Ashfaq Kayani is backing dialogue partly due to fears that the end of the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014 could energize a resilient insurgency straddling the shared frontier, according to commanders deployed in the region. "There was a time when we used to think we were the masters of ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea could have U.S. within missile range, says South Saturday, Dec 22, 2012 10:05 PM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - This month's rocket launch by reclusive North Korea shows it has likely developed the technology, long suspected in the West, to fire a warhead more than 10,000 km (6,200 miles), South Korean officials said on Sunday, putting the U.S. West Coast in range. North Korea said the December 12 launch put a weather satellite in orbit but critics say it was aimed at nurturing the kind of technology needed to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile. North Korea is banned from testing missile or nuclear technology under U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
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