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| Israel using deadly force on unarmed protesters, watchdog says Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 08:07 PM PST RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel is breaking its own rules of engagement by using deadly force to disperse unarmed Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli rights group B'Tselem reported on Monday. Israeli forces have killed 56 people since 2005 in clashes with rock-throwing Palestinians, said B'Tselem, which accused the military of having "extensively and systematically violated" rules barring deadly retaliation for non-lethal assault. "The Israeli military's standing orders explicitly state that live ammunition may not be fired at stone-throwers," it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Trial of China's Bo not being held Monday - court official Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 07:23 PM PST  GUIYANG, China (Reuters) - The trial of disgraced senior Chinese leader Bo Xilai, the central figure in the country's biggest political scandal in decades, will not be held on Monday as some media had reported, a court official in the southern Chinese city of Guiyang said. "To date, the People's Intermediate Court of Guiyang has received no information whatsoever about the trial of Bo Xilai taking place in Guiyang," said Jiang Hao, a court official in the city, the capital of Guizhou province. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's leader declares emergency after clashes kill dozens Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 07:17 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi declared a month-long state of emergency in three cities along the Suez Canal where dozens of people have been killed over the past four days in protests that his allies say are designed to overthrow him. Seven people were shot dead and hundreds were injured in Port Said on Sunday during the funerals of 33 people killed there when locals angered by a court decision went on the rampage as anti-government protests spread around the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan voters split on revising pacifist constitution: poll Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 05:45 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese voters are divided over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's goal of revising the post-World War Two pacifist constitution to ease limits on the military, although nearly 90 percent of lower house lawmakers back the change, an opinion poll showed. Abe, who returned to the premiership after his conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won a huge election victory last month, has made clear he wants to loosen the constitutional limits on the military. The constitution has never been formally altered since it was drafted by U.S. Occupation forces in 1947. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says struggling over whether to intervene in Syria Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 05:27 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said he has been wrestling with the question whether a U.S. military intervention in Syria's 22-month-old civil war would help resolve the bloody conflict or make things worse. In a pair of interviews, Obama responded to critics who say the United States has not been involved enough in Syria, where thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced according to U.N. officials. Transcripts of both interviews were released on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. condemns sentencing of American pastor in Iran Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 05:23 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Sunday condemned an Iranian court for sentencing an Iranian-American Christian pastor to eight years in prison. The State Department said it had confirmed reports of Saeed Abedini's sentencing with the family's attorney and called for his release. "We condemn Iran's continued violation of the universal right of freedom of religion and we call on the Iranian authorities to respect Mr. Abedini's human rights and release him," State Department spokesperson Darby Holladay said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela transfers inmates from prison after riot kills 58 Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 05:01 PM PST  URIBANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities transferred inmates out of a prison on Sunday following a bloody riot two days earlier that killed 58 people and again highlighted chaos in the country's jails. It was the fourth high-profile incident in 18 months in a penal system that has experienced repeated fatal clashes and shootouts. Venezuela's prisons house three times the number of inmates they were designed to hold. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nightclub fire kills 233 in Brazil Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 04:44 PM PST  SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked exits in the ensuing panic. Most of those who died were suffocated by toxic fumes that rapidly filled the crowded club after sparks from pyrotechnics used by the band for visual effects set fire to soundproofing on the ceiling, local fire officials said. "Smoke filled the place instantly, the heat became unbearable," survivor Murilo Tiescher, a medical student, told GloboNews TV. ... Full Story | Top |
| Violence flares at Dominican opposition party office, eight injured Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 03:32 PM PST SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - At least eight people were injured, mostly by gunfire, during a dispute between rival factions competing for control of the Dominican Republic's leading opposition party, officials said on Sunday. The incident occurred at the headquarters of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) in the capital, Santo Domingo, in the wake of a party decision to expel former President Hipolito Mejia and three other senior members from its ranks. Police intervened after a confrontation between Mejia supporters and security guards at the offices, according to witnesses and authorities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela prison riot kills 61, government mum Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 03:24 PM PST  URIBANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - A prison riot in southwestern Venezuela killed 61 people, a hospital official said on Sunday, although the government has refused to give an official death toll in the bloody standoff that highlighted chaos in the country's jails. The violence took place on Friday at the Uribana jail near the city of Barquisimeto. Relatives who gathered outside the jail fumed at the lack of information from authorities who have started transferring prisoners to other facilities but have not confirmed how many were killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia set to start posthumous trial of whistleblower Magnitsky Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 03:22 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia prepared to put whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on trial more than three years after his death, with a preliminary hearing set for Monday in a move relatives and rights groups called politically motivated and a travesty of justice. Magnitsky's death in a Moscow jail has harmed Russia's image abroad and badly strained relations with the United States. His mother and her lawyer said they refused to participate. "I think it is inhuman to try a dead man," Magnitsky's mother Natalya told Reuters by telephone. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malians celebrate, French-led forces clear Timbuktu Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 03:10 PM PST  GAO/SEVARE, Mali (Reuters) - Residents of Mali's northern town of Gao, captured from sharia-observing Islamist rebels by French and Malian troops, danced in the streets to drums and music on Sunday as the French-led offensive also drove the rebels from Timbuktu. The weekend gains made at Gao and Timbuktu by the French and Malian troops capped a two-week whirlwind intervention by France in its former Sahel colony, which has driven al Qaeda-allied militant fighters northwards into the desert and mountains. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's leader declares emergency after clashes Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 03:10 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi declared a month-long state of emergency in three cities along the Suez Canal where dozens of people have been killed over the past four days in protests his allies say are designed to overthrow him. Seven people were shot dead and hundreds were injured in Port Said on Sunday during the funerals of 33 people killed there when locals angered by a court decision went on the rampage as anti-government protests spread around the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Timeline: Fire in nightclub kills 233 in Brazil Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 02:56 PM PST (Reuters) - A fire killed at least 233 people in a nightclub in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze. Among the deadliest fires at a nightclub was at the Cocoanut Grove in Boston on November 28, 1942, when 492 people were killed. In Brazil, one of the worst fires at an entertainment venue was at a circus in Niteroi in 1961 in which 323 people died after an arson attack. Following are some of the deadliest fires this century at entertainment venues: March 29, 2000 - Paradise video parlor, an illegal porn cinema, at Jiaozuo in China's Henan province. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil nightclub fire recalls a 2003 tragedy in Rhode Island Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 02:56 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Brazilian nightclub fire that killed more than 200 people on Sunday recalled a similar tragedy a decade ago in Rhode Island, where 100 people died when a nightclub's highly flammable insulation was ignited during a rock band's pyrotechnics show. In both cases, police investigators cited the use of indoor pyrotechnics, sound insulation catching fire, blocked exits and potential overcrowding. "We appear to have very short memories," said John Barylick, author of "Killer Show," a book about the Rhode Island fire, and a lead attorney representing victims in that case. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt opposition spokesman blames Mursi over security Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 02:40 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - The spokesman for the main opposition coalition on Sunday blamed President Mohamed Mursi's policies for Egypt's security problems and said he wanted more details about an invitation for dialogue with top politicians. The comments by Khaled Dawoud, spokesman for the National Salvation Front, were made shortly after Mursi declared a state of emergency in three cities on the Suez Canal and also called for a meeting with senior politicians and groups. "Of course we feel the president is missing the real problem on the ground which is his own polices," Dawoud told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel's comatose ex-leader Sharon shows signs of consciousness Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 01:50 PM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Seven years after suffering a massive stroke comatose ex- Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has surprised his doctors by displaying "a certain degree of consciousness," an expert who examined him using an MRI scan said on Sunday. The results of tests conducted by a joint Israeli-American team did not mean the former general and right-wing politician turned peacemaker was about to wake up from the coma he has been in since a January 2006 stroke. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's presidency issues invitation to dialogue Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 01:43 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's presidency said it was inviting political supporters and opponents for a national dialogue on Monday at 6 P.M. (11 a.m. ET) at the presidential palace in Cairo, it said in a statement. The announcement followed a television address by President Mohamed Mursi who sought to quell four days of violence across the nation by declaring a state of emergency in the three most volatile cities and calling for a national dialogue. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi declares state of emergency in three cities Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 12:46 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's president declared on Sunday a state of emergency for 30 days in three cities along the Suez Canal that have been the scene of the worst violence that flared across the country at the weekend, killing 49 people. Mohamed Mursi, propelled to an election victory in June by the Muslim Brotherhood, made the announcement in a televised address after four days of clashes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel vows Syria strike at any sign of chemical arms transfer Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 12:29 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Any sign that Syria's grip on its chemical weapons is slipping as it battles an armed uprising could trigger Israeli military strikes, Israel's vice premier said on Sunday. Silvan Shalom confirmed a media report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had last week convened a meeting of security chiefs to discuss the civil war in Syria and the state of its suspected chemical arsenal. Israel and NATO countries say Syria has stocks of chemical warfare agents at four sites. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ontario's openly gay premier hopes to be example for others Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 12:26 PM PST  TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario's new premier, the first openly gay head of a Canadian province, said on Sunday it would be "wonderful" if her victory can help society be more accepting of young gay people. Ontario's Liberals chose Kathleen Wynne, 59, on Saturday to become the head of the minority government ruling Canada's most-populous province, which is grappling with a huge deficit and tenuous growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Comprehensive immigration plan coming this week: McCain Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 12:12 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading Democratic and Republican senators said on Sunday there were encouraging signs in the push to overhaul U.S. immigration laws - a top priority for President Obama's second term - and they would introduce their plan this week. With Obama set to begin his push for immigration reform with a speech in Las Vegas on Tuesday, a group of three Democratic and three Republican senators have been working for weeks on a plan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands march in Paris to support gay marriage Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 12:01 PM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people marched through Paris on Sunday to support the French government's plan to legalize gay marriage and adoption, but the turnout fell well short of a mass demonstration against the project two weeks ago. Police estimated total attendance at about 125,000, while organizers put the number at 400,000. Two weeks ago, organizers of the anti-gay marriage protest claimed turnout of one million, while police put the number at 340,000, an unusually high turnout even in protest-prone France. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentina, Iran to form "truth commission" for 1994 bombing Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 11:51 AM PST  BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina said on Sunday it had agreed with Iran to establish a "truth commission" in a bid to resolve the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center that Argentine courts accuse the Iran of sponsoring. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez agreed to open talks with Tehran on the attack last year in a sharp change in diplomatic policy that irked Israel and drew criticism from Jewish leaders in Buenos Aires and the United States. Fernandez said foreign ministers from Argentina and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding during a meeting in Ethiopia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi defends Mussolini, draws outrage from political left Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 10:49 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi triggered outrage from Italy's political left on Sunday with comments defending fascist wartime leader Benito Mussolini at a ceremony commemorating victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Speaking at the margins of the event in Milan, Berlusconi said Mussolini had been wrong to follow Nazi Germany's lead in passing anti-Jewish laws but that he had in other respects been a good leader. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council envoys in Yemen to bolster peace efforts Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 10:44 AM PST  SANAA (Reuters) - U.N. Security Council envoys flew to Yemen amid tight security on Sunday to show support for a U.S.-backed power transfer deal in danger of faltering and plunging the country back into chaos. Ending political turmoil in Yemen is an international priority - it flanks oil producer Saudi Arabia and major shipping lanes and is struggling with multiple conflicts including an al Qaeda insurgency, a Shi'ite Muslim rebellion in the north and separatist forces in the south. Britain's U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Feinstein has assurance assault weapon ban will get a vote Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 10:09 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The senator leading the charge to revive a assault weapons ban conceded on Sunday, just days before hearings on gun control open, that winning Senate passage will be tough but said she has been assured she will have the chance to bring it up for a vote. President Barack Obama, who has made gun control a top priority after 20 children and six adults were killed by a gunman on December 14 at a Connecticut school, said in remarks published on Sunday that gun control advocates should take into account the views of rural Americans who use guns for hunting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Lawyers in gay marriage cases aim pitches at Obama Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 09:57 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On separate occasions in recent days, lawyers on opposite sides of a Supreme Court fight over same-sex marriage took an elevator to the fifth floor of the Department of Justice, entered a large conference room and made a pitch to Solicitor General Donald Verrilli and other top Obama administration lawyers. Each side wants the administration's support in a late-March showdown on the fundamental rights of gay men and lesbians. ... Full Story | Top |
| German lawmakers give Britain's Cameron qualified backing on EU Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 09:40 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Britain is right to demand greater openness in the European Union but cannot expect to be accorded special rights that might unravel the bloc, senior members of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition were quoted on Sunday as saying. British Prime Minister David Cameron triggered dismay in many European capitals last week with his call for radical reform of the EU and his promise of an "in-out" referendum on Britain's membership by the end of 2017, provided he wins a second term. ... Full Story | Top |
| China carries out anti-missile test Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 09:39 AM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - China tested emerging military technology aimed at destroying missiles in mid-air after an initial test in 2010, state media said on Sunday, in a move that will unnerve its neighbors. A brief report by the official Xinhua news agency said the military carried out a "land-based mid-course missile interception test within its territory". "The test has reached the pre-set goal," the report quoted an unnamed Defence Ministry official as saying. "The test is defensive in nature and targets no other country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bulgarians support building of new nuclear plant: exit polls Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 09:37 AM PST SOFIA (Reuters) - A majority of Bulgarians supported the building of a new nuclear power plant in the country's first referendum since the fall of communism, exit polls showed on Sunday, increasing pressure on rightist government which has opposed the plan. While the low turnout of between 19.5 and 20.3 percent means the result will not be binding, it shows Prime Minister Boiko Borisov's policies have alienated many voters and complicated his campaign for a July election. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova) Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's president to address nation on crisis Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 09:02 AM PST (Reuters) - Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi will address the nation on Sunday evening, state television said, after 45 people were killed in violent protests over the past four days. The television gave no further details. Opposition groups, who accuse the Islamist president of betraying the uprising which toppled Hosni Mubarak two years ago since his election in June, have called for more protests on Monday. (Reporting by Yasmine Saleh; Writing by Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Jon Hemming) Full Story | Top |
| Russia says Assad's prospects fading Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 08:54 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said the chances of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad staying in power were growing "smaller and smaller", as fighting on Sunday in southwestern Damascus shut a main highway from the capital. Assad has long counted Moscow as an ally and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's remarks were the most vocal Russian statement yet that his days may now be numbered, although they come after predictions from France, an avowed enemy, and from neighboring Jordan that the Syrian president's downfall is not imminent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain warns of specific security threat in Somalia Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 08:37 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - The British government warned on Sunday of a "specific threat" to foreigners in Somalia's breakaway enclave of Somaliland and urged its nationals to leave the country immediately. Britain's Foreign Office gave no details of the threat in the Horn of Africa state, but highlighted in a statement the ongoing danger of "kidnapping for financial or political gain, motivated by criminality or terrorism". "We are now aware of a specific threat to Westerners in Somaliland, and urge any British nationals who remain there against our advice to leave immediately," the statement said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zuma home not built with public funds, South Africa government says Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 08:35 AM PST  PRETORIA (Reuters) - Public funds were not spent on building South African President Jacob Zuma a house in his home village, state investigators said on Sunday in a report that sought to end one of the biggest scandals to hit Zuma before elections next year. The report did say the government had spent 206 million rand ($22.98 million) on security upgrades and related costs at the president's private compound, and that this decision was based on an assessment of threats to Zuma. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel threatens Syria strike if rebels get chemical arms Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 08:33 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Any sign that Syria's grip on its chemical weapons is slipping as it battles an armed uprising could trigger Israeli military strikes, Israel's vice premier said on Sunday. Silvan Shalom confirmed a media report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had last week convened a meeting of security chiefs to discuss the civil war in Syria and the state of its suspected chemical arsenal. Israel and NATO countries say Syria has stocks of chemical warfare agents at four sites. ... Full Story | Top |
| UAE to try 94 over plot to seize power: agency Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 08:20 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has ordered 94 citizens to be tried on charges of seeking to seize power in the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab country, the attorney general said in a statement on Sunday. State news agency WAM quoted the attorney general, Salem Saeed Kubaish, as saying the suspects had publicly called for adherence to the Islamic religion when in fact they were secretly plotting to take over the oil-producing country. "Their unannounced aims were to seize power and confronting the main principles which the rule is based on," the statement said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three people shot dead in Egyptian port city funerals Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 08:19 AM PST ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Three people were killed in the Egyptian city of Port Said on Sunday when thousands of people held funerals for 33 who died in protests at the weekend, a hospital official in the Mediterranean port said. The head of Port Said hospitals, Abdel Rahman Farag, told Reuters three people were killed by gunshot wounds. One was an 18-year-old man but he did not immediately have further details about the other two victims. Farag also said more than 416 people were injured as a result of teargas inhalation, while 17 suffered gunshot wounds. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says rural voices need to be heard in gun debate: report Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 07:38 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged gun control advocates to listen to views of rural Americans who use guns for hunting and said bridging a cultural divide in attitudes to gun ownership will be critical to his administration's push to curb gun violence. "If you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were 10, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family's traditions, you can see why you'd be pretty protective of that," Obama said in an interview with The New Republic magazine published on Sunday on its website. ... Full Story | Top |
| One man shot dead during Egypt port city funerals Sunday, Jan 27, 2013 07:16 AM PST ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - An Egyptian man was killed in Port Said on Sunday when thousands of people held funerals for 33 who died in protests at the weekend, a hospital official in the Mediterranean port said. The head of Port Said hospitals, Abdel Rahman Farag, told Reuters the 18-year-old died from a gunshot wound in the chest. He said more than 416 people were injured as a result of teargas inhalation, while 17 suffered gunshot wounds. Many of the 33 people who died in the city on Saturday were killed by gunshots. ... Full Story | Top |
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