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| Children, many ill, would be victims of Russia ban on U.S. adoption Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 06:06 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Family Christmas cards and smiling snapshots of children sent by their adoptive American parents fill Galina Sigayeva's office in Russia's second city St Petersburg. Many of them were crippled by illness and in desperate need of medical care before her agency helped organise their adoption into U.S. families, she recalls. Children's rights campaigners say children like these will suffer most if President Vladimir Putin approves a law barring American adoptions that has been rubber-stamped by Russian lawmakers. The act retaliates against a new U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Mandela discharged from hospital: government Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 06:05 PM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital, ending a nearly three-week stay during which he was treated for a lung infection and had surgery to remove gallstones, the government said on Wednesday. The 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been moved to his Johannesburg home. He has been in frail health for several years. "He will undergo home-based high care at his ... home until he recovers fully," the government said in a statement issued by the presidency. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-U.S. President George H.W. Bush in intensive care Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 04:46 PM PST  AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Former President George H.W. Bush is in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital and is in "guarded condition," family spokesman Jim McGrath said Wednesday. "The president is alert and conversing with medical staff, and is surrounded by family," McGrath said in a statement. "Following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever, President Bush was admitted to the intensive care unit at Methodist Hospital on Sunday where he remains in guarded condition," McGrath said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former President George H.W. Bush in intensive care: spokesman Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 03:52 PM PST AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Former President George H.W. Bush is in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital and is in "guarded condition," family spokesman Jim McGrath said Wednesday. "The President is alert and conversing with medical staff, and is surrounded by family," McGrath said in a statement. Bush was admitted to the intensive care unit on Sunday, McGrath said. (Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Paul Thomasch) Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic wants French help as rebels close in on capital Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 03:25 PM PST BANGUI (Reuters) - A government minister in the Central African Republic on Wednesday called for French soldiers stationed there to intervene as rebels closed in on the capital having passed the last major town to the north. The appeal for help came as hundreds of people protested outside the French Embassy in Bangui, the capital, throwing stones at the building and tearing down the French flag in anger at a rebel advance through the north of the country. Paris did not immediately respond to the aid request but announced that French troops would be deployed to secure the embassy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nicaragua volcano spews ash cloud, residents evacuated Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 02:29 PM PST  MANAGUA (Reuters) - Nicaragua's tallest volcano has belched an ash cloud hundreds of meters (feet) into the sky in the latest bout of sporadic activity, prompting the evacuation of nearby residents, the government said on Wednesday. The 5,725-foot (1,745-meter) San Cristobal volcano, which sits around 85 miles north of the capital Managua in the country's northwest, has been active in recent years, and went through a similar episode in September. The latest activity began late on Tuesday. Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo called on residents who live within a 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan's Bashir says ready to meet Kiir to try to get oil flowing Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 01:01 PM PST  KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Wednesday he was ready to meet his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir to try to move forward with setting up a demilitarized border zone and restart oil flows. His comments raise the prospect that the two could set aside their differences after signing agreements in September meant to secure their disputed border and to allow the South to resume oil exports after the two came close to war in April in the worst violence since Juba seceded last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's contentious Islamist constitution becomes law Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 11:48 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi admitted on Wednesday that Egypt's economy faces serious problems after he enacted a new, bitterly contested constitution that is supposed to help end political unrest and allow him to focus on the financial crisis. The president said the economy also had great opportunities to grow, but earlier the Egyptian pound tumbled to its weakest level in almost eight years as ever more people rushed to buy dollars and withdraw their savings from banks. ... Full Story | Top |
| France deploys soldiers to protect embassy in Central African Republic Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 10:56 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - France has deployed soldiers stationed in the Central African Republic to secure its embassy in the capital Bangui, after protesters threw stones at the embassy and some managed to enter the compound, the defense ministry said on Wednesday. President Francois Hollande ordered the ministry to take all measures to ensure the security of the embassy and French nationals in the country, his office said in a separate statement. "These measures were quickly implemented and will be extended as long as necessary," Hollande's office added. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish ex-president's son wants autopsy report made public Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 10:17 AM PST  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The full report of an autopsy on late President Turgut Ozal, who led Turkey out of military rule in the 1980s, should be released for public scrutiny, the former leader's son said on Wednesday. Ozal's body was recently exhumed after years of rumors that was murdered by militants of the "deep state" - a shadowy group within the Turkish establishment of the day. He had angered some with his efforts to end a Kurdish insurgency and survived an assassination bid in 1988. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japanese adventurer feared killed in Russian road accident Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 09:41 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Japanese adventurer who was cycling across Russia is believed to have been killed on Wednesday in a road accident near the Arctic circle, Russian officials and media said. Authorities believe a Japanese man who died after being hit by a car from behind on the Kola Peninsula some 300 km (185 miles) south of Murmansk was Haruhisa Watanabe, said Sergei Klyushev, a Russian Foreign Ministry official in Murmansk. "He died at the scene after sustaining multiple injuries," Klyushev said by phone. ... Full Story | Top |
| UAE says arrests cell planning attacks Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 09:40 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Security forces in the United Arab Emirates have arrested a cell of UAE and Saudi Arabian citizens which was planning to carry out militant attacks in both countries and other states, the official news agency WAM said on Wednesday. The U.S.-allied UAE, a federation of seven emirates and a major oil exporter that has supported Western counter-terrorism efforts in the region, has been spared any attack by al Qaeda and other insurgency groups. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arab league chief, ministers to visit Ramallah to discuss aid Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 09:28 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - A delegation of Arab ministers and high-ranking officials led by Arab League Chief Nabil Elaraby will visit Ramallah on Saturday to offer moral support and discuss financial aid for the Palestinian Authority, an Arab League source said on Wednesday. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh are among those heading to the central West Bank city. They will meet briefly with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the source said. The delegation, according to the source, will congratulate the Palestinian Authority on a successful U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian parliament approves ban on American adoptions Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 08:16 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children went to President Vladimir Putin for his signature on Wednesday after winning final approval from parliament in retaliation for a U.S. law that targets Russian human rights abusers. Putin has strongly hinted he will sign the bill, which would also outlaw some U.S.-funded non-governmental groups and impose visa bans and asset freezes on Americans accused of violating the rights of Russians. The Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, voted unanimously to approve the bill, which has clouded U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria to discuss Brahimi peace proposals with Russia Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 07:49 AM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sent a senior diplomat to Moscow on Wednesday to discuss proposals to end the conflict convulsing his country made by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Syrian and Lebanese sources said. Brahimi, who saw Assad on Monday and is planning to hold a series of meetings with Syrian officials and dissidents in Damascus this week, is trying to broker a peaceful transfer of power, but has disclosed little about how this might be done. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mental illness, poverty haunted Afghan policewoman who killed American Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 07:35 AM PST  KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan policewoman suspected of killing a U.S. contractor at police headquarters in Kabul suffered from mental illness and was driven to suicidal despair by poverty, her children told Reuters on Wednesday. The woman was identified by authorities as Narges Rezaeimomenabad, a 40-year-old grandmother and mother of three who moved here from Iran 10 years ago and married an Afghan man. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi allies fire barbs at Monti, ending Christmas truce Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 07:32 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italian politicians resumed their bickering on Wednesday, with supporters of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi taking aim at his successor Mario Monti despite a Christmas call from the Pope for political peace. Just before midnight at the end of Christmas Day, Monti tweeted: "Together, we saved Italy from disaster. Now we have to renew politics. Complaining won't help anything. Rolling up sleeves will. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq Sunnis block trade routes in protest against PM Maliki Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 06:21 AM PST  ANBAR, Iraq (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Sunni Muslims blocked Iraq's main trade route to neighboring Syria and Jordan in a fourth day of demonstrations on Wednesday against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The massive show of force marks an escalation in protests that erupted last week after troops detained the bodyguards of Sunni Finance Minister Rafaie Esawi, threatening to plunge Iraq deeper into political turmoil. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian officials head to Moscow for talks on crisis proposals Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 06:06 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian foreign ministry officials headed to Moscow on Wednesday to discuss proposals for ending Syria's 21-month-old crisis apparently made by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Syrian and Lebanese sources said. Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Makdad and another aide will sound out Russian officials on the details of meetings with Brahimi in Damascus this week, a Syrian security source said. A Lebanese official close to President Bashar al-Assad's government said Syrian officials were upbeat after talks with the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Head of Syrian military police defects Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 06:06 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - The head of Syria's military police has defected from the army and declared allegiance to the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to a video and a Syrian security source. The high-level defection, while not a strategically significant development in the 21-month-old conflict, will be a blow to morale for Assad's forces, which are hitting back at a string of rebel advances across the country. "I am General Abdelaziz Jassim al-Shalal, head of the military police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wounded Syrian minister returns to Damascus Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 06:06 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's interior minister left Lebanon for Damascus on Wednesday, airport authorities said, after receiving treatment in Beirut for wounds sustained in a rebel bomb attack earlier this month. Mohammed Ibrahim al-Shaar was wounded in his shoulder, stomach and legs when an explosives-rigged car and two other bombs were detonated at the Interior Ministry in the Syrian capital. At least five people were killed in the attack, but medics in Lebanon said the 62-year-old Shaar's injuries were not life-threatening. (Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Full Story | Top |
| Japan Abe taps allies for cabinet, pledges deflation fight Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 06:00 AM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - New Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed on Wednesday to battle deflation and a strong yen, and bolster ties with the United States as he kicked off a second administration committed to reviving the economy while coping with a rising China. A hawk on security matters, Abe, 58, has promised aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan and big fiscal spending by the debt-laden government to slay deflation and weaken the yen to make Japanese exports more competitive. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bahraini court overturns sentences for protesters Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 05:24 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - A Bahraini appeals court on Wednesday overturned death and prison sentences issued earlier to protesters for their role in a pro-democracy uprising, a defense lawyer said. Bahrain has been convulsed by unrest since February 2011 following demonstrations led by majority Shi'ites demanding democratic change in the Sunni-led monarchy. The ruling Al Khalifa family brought in Gulf Arab troops, mainly from Saudi Arabia, and imposed two months of martial law to end the uprising. Thousands were arrested and military trials were instituted during the martial law period. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kazakh rescuers find flight recorder after military plane crash Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 05:13 AM PST  ALMATY (Reuters) - Rescue teams have recovered a flight recorder from a plane which crashed in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, killing all 27 people on board in the country's worst military air disaster since independence. The twin-engine Antonov An-72 transport jet disappeared from radar screens at about 1900 local time (1300 GMT) as it was circling in a raging blizzard, trying to land at the city of Shymkent, the capital of the South Kazakhstan Region. It crashed into an open-cast mine, littering the area with mangled, burning fragments. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Japan PM Abe says will pursue bold monetary policy Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 05:01 AM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday his government will pursue bold monetary policy, flexible fiscal policy and a growth strategy to encourage private investment. "Japan won't have a future and won't be able to restore fiscal health without a strong economy," Abe told a news conference after taking office as the country's seventh prime minister in six years. Abe has pledged to put top priority on beating deflation and taming the strong yen, which are dragging down the world's third biggest economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pipeline blast, quake strike 2014 Olympics Russian host Sochi Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 04:11 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, which will host the 2014 Winter Olympics, has been hit by a gas pipeline blast and a mild earthquake, a government spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Irina Gogoleva, of Russia's Emergencies Ministry, said no one was hurt and there was no apparent damage to the city's infrastructure after a 5.3 magnitude earthquake was reported at 0242 local time on Wednesday (2242 GMT on Tuesday). "Emergencies Ministry servicemen scoured through the city districts, bridges and electrical cables, there was no damage," Gogoleva said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel party rises to seven-year poll high before election year 2013 Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 04:10 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have climbed to their highest opinion poll level in nearly seven years but will not be able to continue their center-right coalition with the slumping Free Democrats (FDP), a survey said on Wednesday. The Forsa poll published on Wednesday, nine months before an election, found Merkel's Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) rising three points to 41 percent, the highest since March 2006. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spring Wish denied as suicide bomber brings down Afghan juice empire Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 03:09 AM PST  KABUL (Reuters) - When a Taliban suicide bomber killed two people on the edge of the Afghan capital this month, there was another casualty - a global fruit juice business optimistically called "Spring Wish" which provided work for thousands of farmers across the country. Mustafa Sadiq's empire had been expanding healthily, bringing in badly needed foreign capital, before the attack inflicted the kind of financial loss cash-strapped Afghanistan can ill afford. ... Full Story | Top |
| Shelling in Syria's Raqqa kills 20, at least eight children Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 03:05 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Government shelling in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa killed about 20 people, at least 8 of them children, a video posted by activists on Wednesday showed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published a video showing rows of the blood-stained bodies laid out on blankets. The sound of crying relatives could be heard in the background. The shelling hit the province's al-Qahtania village, but it was unclear when the attack happened. (Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Full Story | Top |
| Al Qaeda blames France for Sahel hostage deadlock Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 02:59 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - A leader of al Qaeda's North African arm, AQIM, has accused France of failing to engage in negotiations to release French hostages the group is holding in the Sahel. In a four-minute video message carried by regional news website Sahara Media, Abdel Hamid Abu Zeid said four hostages seized in Niger two years ago were alive and said Paris had not taken up AQIM's invitation to negotiate their release. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran bans flights during call to Islamic prayer: report Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 02:01 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's parliament has banned on airplanes from flying in the country during the Azan call to Islamic prayer, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday. "According to the new directive, airplanes are banned from flying during Azan, especially during the call to morning prayers," Mehr quoted the spokesman for parliament's cultural committee Ali Taheri as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Profiles of key ministers in Japan PM Abe's new cabinet Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 01:43 AM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - New Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his cabinet line-up on Wednesday after being voted in by parliament. Abe, a security hawk who quit as premier in 2007 after a troubled year in office, has made beating deflation and taming a strong yen with drastic monetary policy and big public works spending his first priority. Below are brief profiles of key cabinet ministers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blogger's death stirs political hornet's nest in Iran Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 01:06 AM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - There was little about Sattar Beheshti that made him stand out in a working-class suburb south of Tehran called Robat Karim. Like many of his peers, the 35-year-old laborer was devout and lived at home with his mother. But his life changed when he started a blog called "My Life for Iran" last year. His entries often focused on the struggles of the working class as well as the political restrictions in Iran, sometimes mixed with personal anecdotes from Beheshti's daily life. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran rejects interference accusation by Gulf Arabs Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 12:18 AM PST  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran rejected accusations from Gulf Arab states that it was meddling in their affairs, saying those countries were "running away from reality", an Iranian news agency reported on Wednesday. Six U.S.-allied states demanded Iran end what they called interference in the region, in a statement on Tuesday at the end of a two-day summit of the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), reiterating a long-held mistrust of their main rival. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan MP Kishida appointed foreign minister Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 12:06 AM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appointed lower house lawmaker Fumio Kishida to the key post of foreign minister on Wednesday as the government seeks to balance a bolder diplomatic stance with the need to repair frayed ties with China and South Korea. Kishida entered politics after working at the now-defunct Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan and previously served as a state minister in charge of issues related to Okinawa island - host to the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan - in Abe's first cabinet. ... Full Story | Top |
| Abe taps ex-PM Taro Aso as finance minister Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 11:59 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - New Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday appointed Taro Aso, a veteran lawmaker and former premier, as finance minister to help push his policies of drastic monetary easing and big spending to beat deflation and tame the strong yen. ... Full Story | Top |
| Reformist leader says Myanmar needs transformation Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 10:46 PM PST  YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's president called on Wednesday for a shake-up in the running of his fast-changing country, which he said was still mired in corruption and inefficiency and lagging behind its international peers. Thein Sein, the unlikely reformer to emerge from within a military junta 19 months ago, called for big improvements across Myanmar's outdated bureaucracy to strengthen democracy and the economy, as foreign firms weigh whether to invest in the resource-rich country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three Afghans dead in new blast at U.S. base in Afghan east Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 09:48 PM PST  KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed three people in an attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the same base that is believed to be used by the CIA and which a suicide bomber attacked three years ago killing seven CIA employees. The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in the eastern town of Khost, saying they had sent a suicide bomber driving a van packed with explosives to the base. "The target was those who serve Americans at that base," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. ... Full Story | Top |
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