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| U.N. to consider validity of China's claim over disputed islands Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 08:04 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations is planning to consider later this year the scientific validity of a claim by China that a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea are part of its territory, although Japan says the world body should not be involved. Tensions over the uninhabited islands - located near rich fishing grounds and potentially huge oil and gas reserves - flared after Japan's government purchased them from a private Japanese owner in September, sparking violent anti-Japanese protests across China and a military standoff. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan envoy says territory dispute with China can be resolved Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 07:51 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - A Japanese envoy to Beijing said on Friday that he believed tensions with China over a group of uninhabited islands could be resolved, after meeting China's president-in-waiting Xi Jinping. Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of New Komeito, the junior partner in Japan's ruling coalition, said Japan will look at the "big picture" in dialogue to resolve territorial disputes with China. He said he did not directly discuss the islands issue with Xi. He also said he delivered a letter to Xi from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spanish newspaper sorry for "false photo" of Venezuela's Chavez Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 07:34 PM PST  MADRID/CARACAS (Reuters) - Spain's influential El Pais newspaper apologized on Thursday for splashing a "false photo" of Venezuela's cancer-stricken leader Hugo Chavez on its front page, prompting a furious response from the government in Caracas, which vowed to take legal action. Within minutes of posting the image online as a global exclusive, El Pais said it had discovered from social media that the photo was not of Chavez. It removed it from its website and withdrew its print edition. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. man who aided Mumbai plotters sentenced to 35 years in prison Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 05:28 PM PST  CHICAGO (Reuters) - David Headley, an American who admitted scouting targets for the 2008 Islamic militant raid on Mumbai and later agreed to testify against the plotters to avoid the death penalty, was sentenced on Thursday to 35 years in prison. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, was the maximum sought by federal prosecutors. The attacks killed more than 160 people, including six Americans. Headley, a 52-year-old U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, admitted videotaping sites that were targeted by the Mumbai attackers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian opposition to mark uprising with new protests Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 05:26 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's opponents head to Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to mark the anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak with protests against the new head of state and his Islamist allies. On the second anniversary of the uprising, Mursi's secular-minded rivals aim to revive the demands of a revolution that they say has been betrayed by the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement that propelled him to power in an election last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia peace talks take a break, no major advances reported Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:12 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - Marxist rebels and the Colombian government adjourned their latest round of peace talks on Thursday with no major advances toward ending their long conflict and said they had significant differences to overcome despite some areas of agreement. They said they agreed that the lives of the country's rural poor must be improved, which is the key issue in their 50-year-long war, but not on how to go about it. ... Full Story | Top |
| Europe urges citizens to leave Libya's Benghazi Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 03:06 PM PST  TRIPOLI/LONDON (Reuters) - European countries urged their nationals to leave the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Thursday, with Britain citing a "specific and imminent" threat to Westerners days after a deadly attack by Islamist militants in neighboring Algeria. Officials declined to give details, but Britain has warned of a growing militant threat in North Africa, which Prime Minister David Cameron has called a "magnet for jihadists". ... Full Story | Top |
| Azeri police break up protests after night of rioting Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:56 PM PST BAKU (Reuters) - Azeri police used tear gas and water cannon on Thursday to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding the resignation of a regional leader, the day after cars were torched and a hotel set ablaze in a night of rioting. Nizami Alekperov, Ismailli regional governor, rejected protesters' demands, but complaints about wages, unemployment and oppressive government in the oil-producing country may send a worrying signal to President Ilham Aliyev in an election year. ... Full Story | Top |
| France sees no sign Syria's Assad will be toppled soon Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:55 PM PST  PARIS/BEIRUT (Reuters) - France said on Thursday there were no signs that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is about to be overthrown, something Paris has been saying for months was just over the horizon. The uprising against Assad's rule is now almost two years old. 60,000 Syrians have been killed and another 650,000 are now refugees abroad, according to the United Nations. France, a former colonial ruler of Syria, has been one of the most vocal backers of the rebels trying to topple Assad and was the first to recognize the opposition coalition. "Things are not moving. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sees new Benghazi threat as aimed at Europeans, not Americans Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:32 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and European officials are downplaying the risk to Americans posed by the latest threats from Islamic militants who have vowed to target Westerners in Benghazi, Libya. One reason is that the alleged threats are explicitly directed against European nationals, said U.S. and European sources familiar with the warnings issued on Thursday by at least three European governments. Also, few if any U.S. citizens now are believed to be in Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city where U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Monti steps into Monte Paschi scandal Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:14 PM PST  MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti weighed in on the scandal surrounding Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena on Thursday, rejecting suggestions that the authorities had failed to spot large trading losses threatening the bank. Already in need of a 3.9 billion euro bailout, Monte dei Paschi this week revealed loss-making derivatives trades that could cost it as much as 720 million euros (US$956 million), lurching center stage in a crucial general election campaign. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy PM Monti says may address parliament on Monte dei Paschi Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 01:46 PM PST DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Thursday he would be prepared to recall parliament to report on the troubled Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena but rejected suggestions that authorities had failed in their oversight functions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli voters force Netanyahu to seek centrist partner Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 01:34 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's next government must heed voters and devote itself to bread-and-butter issues, not foreign policy problems such as Iran's nuclear plans and the Palestinian conflict, senior politicians said on Thursday. Israelis worried about housing, prices and taxes reshaped parliament in Tuesday's national election, forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to woo their centrist champion as his main coalition partner. Defence Minister Ehud Barak said voters had imposed new constraints on the next government. ... Full Story | Top |
| British police arrest man in Syria kidnap investigation Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 01:27 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested a 31-year-old in London under anti-terrorism laws on Thursday as part of an investigation into the kidnapping of two European photographers in Syria last July. The man, who was not named, will be charged with the "preparation of terrorist acts" when he appears in court in London on Friday morning, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. British police have been involved in an investigation into the kidnap of two photographers taken hostage near the Syrian border with Turkey last July 17. ... Full Story | Top |
| IRA Old Bailey bomber dies in Ireland Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 01:19 PM PST DUBLIN (Reuters) - Dolours Price, one of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombers convicted of the 1973 attack on London's Old Bailey and later a vocal critic of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, died in her home in Dublin overnight, a family friend said on Thursday. Price, along with her sister, served eight years of a life sentence for the car bombing outside the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London that wounded more than 200 people, part of an IRA campaign to try to force British forces from its province of Northern Ireland. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canadian police in Algeria to investigate gas plant attack Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 12:48 PM PST  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian police are in Algeria looking for evidence that Canadian citizens were involved in last week's attack and hostage-taking at a desert gas plant, a government official said on Thursday. Around 70 people died when Algerian troops stormed the plant and ended the siege on Sunday. Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said a Canadian gunman, identified only as "Chedad," had coordinated the operation. "I can confirm that they are on the ground," the official told Reuters when asked whether members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were in Algeria. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Never leave", shell-shocked Mali residents tell France Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 12:47 PM PST DIABALY, Mali (Reuters) - Residents of Diabaly feared for their lives when French air strikes pounded their small town in central Mali, shaking their homes and turning the pick-up trucks of Islamist fighters into burning, twisted metal. Despite that, they are grateful to France. Children in bare feet and tattered T-shirts now play among the trucks' charred wreckage -- a visible reminder that the town was the focus of the French-led war against al Qaeda-linked rebels bent on carving an Islamist state out of the Sahara. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two leading Chechen rebels killed in shootout: agency Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 12:36 PM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two of the most wanted Islamist rebels in Chechnya were among 14 people killed in a shootout between Russian forces and militants, Interfax news agency said on Thursday. Brothers Khuseyn and Muslim Gakayev have been accused of organizing several high-profile attacks, most recently a suicide bomb attack on an interior ministry vehicle that killed four people last August. They were also blamed for an attack on the Chechen parliament in 2010 when at least six people died, and an assassination attempt at the residence of Moscow-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian prosecutors investigate Concordia owner over shipwreck Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 12:33 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors investigating last year's Costa Concordia shipwreck in which 32 people died are looking into the vessel owner's potential responsibility as an employer, the company said on Thursday. Costa Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corp said in a statement that it had been told of a probe into possible violations of Italian law governing the responsibility of companies for crimes committed by employees. Prosecutors are seeking a trial of the ship's captain and seven other people, a magistrate said in December. A judge will decide if there is enough evidence for trial. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rights groups call on Iran to stop execution of Arab activists Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 12:18 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Two rights groups urged the Iranian judiciary on Thursday to quash death sentences against five members of Iran's Arab minority and halt their executions on grounds of torture and unfair legal proceedings. London-based Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which is based in New York, said in a statement the five had been sentenced last year on terrorism-related charges because of their links to a banned cultural institute that promoted their Arab heritage. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berezovsky battles in court with ex-partner over assets Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 12:04 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky's ex-partner, with whom he has two children, is pursuing him in court for a share of his assets, adding to financial pressures on him months after he lost a $6 billion dispute with rival Roman Abramovich. A High Court judgment published late on Wednesday modified an earlier ruling granting Yelena Gorbunova's request that up to 200 million pounds ($317 million) of Berezovsky's assets be frozen, and said only those at risk could be restricted. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain newspaper sorry for "false photo" of Chavez Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 11:47 AM PST MADRID/CARACAS (Reuters) - Spain's influential El Pais newspaper apologized on Thursday for publishing a "false photo" of cancer-stricken Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, removed the image from its website and withdrew its print edition. The Venezuelan government and the president of Argentina, Chavez ally Cristina Fernandez, condemned the publication of the photo. "As grotesque as it is false," Venezuela's information minister said on Twitter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arabian al Qaeda's number two is dead: Yemeni official Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 11:29 AM PST SANAA (Reuters) - A Saudi who was freed by U.S. authorities from detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, only to become second-in-command of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has died after being wounded by Yemeni security forces, a Yemeni security official said on Friday. Said al-Shehri suffered injuries in an operation by the security apparatus on November 28 in the northern province of Saada, a member of Yemen's supreme security committee told the Yemeni state news agency. He subsequently fell into a coma and then died, the source said, without saying when exactly Shehri had died. ... Full Story | Top |
| Council of Europe alleges torture in Russia's North Caucasus Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 11:27 AM PST STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - The Council of Europe on Thursday accused Russian authorities of inflicting electric shocks, asphyxiation and other tortures on prisoners in an effort to suppress an Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus. Its report was released after Russia for the first time authorized the publication of findings gathered by the council's committee on torture on a 2011 trip to Chechnya, Dagestan and North Ossetia. Russia is fighting an insurgency in the region by armed rebels aiming to establish an Islamic state in the mountainous and predominantly Muslim region. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sanctions North Koreans over weapons proliferation Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 11:26 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States slapped economic sanctions on Thursday on two North Korean bank officials and a Hong Kong trading company that it accused of supporting Pyongyang's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. move was linked to sanctions imposed by the United Nations against North Korea on Wednesday, which prompted an immediate threat by North Korea to boost its military and nuclear capabilities. The U.N. action condemned North Korea's December rocket launch and expanded existing sanctions. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. "very concerned" about North Korea's nuclear statements: Panetta Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 11:18 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday the United States is "very concerned" about North Korea's threat to carry out a nuclear test and further rocket launches but is prepared to deal with any kind of provocation from Pyongyang. Panetta, speaking at a Pentagon news conference, said North Korea's actions would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions, would distance Pyongyang from the international community and would "do nothing - nothing other than jeopardize the hope for peace. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel expected to boycott U.N. rights scrutiny session Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 11:04 AM PST  GENEVA (Reuters) - Israel is expected to boycott a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council next week despite the United States urging its ally to show up for an examination of its record, the U.S. ambassador said on Thursday. The Jewish state is scheduled to be in the dock of the Geneva rights forum on Tuesday, January 29 as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, the council's regular scrutiny of all United Nations member states. "They (Israeli officials) signaled that they want it postponed. It is very unlikely they will participate on the 29th," Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali Islamists suffer split as Africans prepare assault Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 10:51 AM PST  MARKALA, Mali/DAKAR (Reuters) - A split emerged on Thursday in the alliance of Islamist militant groups occupying northern Mali, as French and African troops prepared an offensive aimed at driving them from their safe haven in the Sahara. A senior negotiator from the Ansar Dine rebels who helped seize the north from Mali's government last year said he was now part of a faction that wanted talks and rejected the group's alliance with al Qaeda's North African franchise AQIM. It was unclear how many fighters had joined the new Islamic Movement of Azawad (MIA) faction. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ultra-Orthodox parties in tight spot after Israel election Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 10:18 AM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Powerful political players for years, Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties must now reckon with a new force ushered in by voters bent on stripping them of perks they have relied on for decades. Centrist Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party came a surprise second in Tuesday's parliamentary election, usurping ultra-Orthodox groups Shas and United Torah Judaism from their long-standing role of kingmakers in coalition negotiations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tribal movement wins Jordan vote, Islamists to protest Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 10:04 AM PST  AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday promised more street protests to demand electoral reform, after pro-government candidates coasted to victory in elections that the Islamist group boycotted as unfair. State television said most of the 150 seats contested in Wednesday's vote were won by independents, candidates with limited political agendas who rely on family and tribal allegiances rather than party backing. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council allows drones for eastern Congo Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 10:00 AM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council has given a green light for peacekeepers to use surveillance drones in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after weeks of delay over concerns of Russia, China and Rwanda about the use of aerial spy equipment. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote to the 15-member council late last month to advise that peacekeepers in Congo planned to use unmanned aerial systems "to enhance situational awareness and to permit timely decision-making" in dealing with a nine-month insurgency by M23 rebels in the mineral-rich east. ... Full Story | Top |
| Skiing day out sparks Lebanon's latest sectarian showdown Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 09:59 AM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - It's ski season in Lebanon and everyone's hitting the slopes. But when the country's most controversial Sunni Muslim cleric took a convoy of supporters out for the day and was blocked by angry Christian protesters, many feared the trip could be the spark that would reignite Lebanon's sectarian flames. The long-bearded and bespectacled cleric Ahmed al-Assir, known for his inflammatory speeches and clashes with Shi'ite militants, took 10 buses on Thursday from his Sunni stronghold in the Mediterranean city of Sidon to Faraya, one of Lebanon's ski resorts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Azeri police restore order after breaking up protest Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 09:54 AM PST  BAKU (Reuters) - Azeri police used tear gas and water cannon on Thursday to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding the resignation of a regional leader, after cars were torched and a hotel set ablaze in a night of rioting. Nizami Alekperov, Ismailli regional governor, has defied the protesters' demands but complaints about wages, unemployment and oppressive government in the oil-producer may send a worrying signal to President Ilham Aliyev in an election year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libya wants peacekeepers in Mali after French-led drive Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 09:50 AM PST ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - United Nations peacekeepers should be deployed in Mali once a French-led offensive against al-Qaeda backed militants is over to prevent uprooted Islamist fighters destabilizing neighboring countries, a Libyan minister said on Thursday. Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdulaziz said Libya's internal security was at stake, warning of the dangers of a spillover of Mali's crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek anarchist groups claim bomb blast at Athens mall Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 09:42 AM PST  ATHENS (Reuters) - Two Greek anarchist groups claimed responsibility on Thursday for an explosion at an Athens shopping center this week that fuelled fears of rising political violence. The two previously unknown groups, "Wild Freedom" and "Instigators of Social Explosion" said they had staged the attack to protest against wealthy "capitalists" and raids against squats in the center of Athens this month. Police could not confirm the authenticity of the claims. "For us, the mall and every mall is a cemetery for people and real values. ... Full Story | Top |
| United Nations to investigate drone killings Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 09:28 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - The United Nations launched an inquiry on Thursday into the use of unmanned drones in counter-terrorism operations, after criticism of the number of innocent civilians killed by the aircraft. The inquiry, announced in London, will investigate 25 drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. Most attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles have been by the United States. Britain and Israel have also used them, and dozens more states are believed to possess the technology. ... Full Story | Top |
| IRA Old Bailey bomber dies in Dublin Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 09:26 AM PST DUBLIN (Reuters) - Dolours Price, one of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombers convicted of the 1973 attack on London's Old Bailey and later a vocal critic of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, died in her home in Dublin overnight, a family friend said. Price, along with her sister, served eight years of a life sentence in Britain for the car bombing outside the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London that wounded more than 200 people, part of an IRA campaign to try to force British forces from its province of Northern Ireland. ... Full Story | Top |
| Frenchwoman freed from Mexico jail hails Sarkozy as savior Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 09:18 AM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - A Frenchwoman released early from a 60-year Mexican jail term for kidnapping said former President Nicolas Sarkozy had saved her life by backing her case, as she arrived back in France on Thursday. Teary-eyed but beaming, Cassez was careful to thank the current president, Francois Hollande, but made clear she considered Sarkozy's help had been crucial. "I remember when Sarkozy took a stand in my case. It was a crucial moment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germans and Dutch urge citizens to leave Libya's Benghazi Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 09:17 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany and the Netherlands on Thursday joined Britain in urging all of their citizens to leave the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi due to a specific threat to Westerners. The Dutch Foreign Ministry warned its citizens to avoid Benghazi and the area to its east, saying the security situation was uncertain and that there was a risk of violence. "All journeys, including for transit, and stays in certain regions, specifically Benghazi and the region to its east, are advised against," the ministry said on its website. ... Full Story | Top |
| China busts sex video blackmailers who targeted officials Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 09:15 AM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police in the inland port city of Chongqing have busted a ring that extorted local officials with secretly-filmed video of their encounters with young women, the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. Late last year, graphic video footage of the party secretary of Chongqing's Beibei district in a rendezvous with a young woman was widely circulated on the Chinese internet. The official, Lei Zhengfu, was later sacked. Ten other officials were removed from their posts after appearing in similar videos, Xinhua said. ... Full Story | Top |
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