| | |
| South Sudan government, rebels set for New Year's Day talks Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 07:02 PM PST  By Carl Odera and Aaron Maasho JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's government and rebels are set for New Year's Day peace talks in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, to thrash out a ceasefire to end weeks of ethnic bloodletting in the world's newest state. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire on Tuesday, mediators said, but fighting between government troops and militias loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar raged in Bor, the capital of the vast Jonglei state and site of an ethnic massacre in 1991. "I'm worried that the continued fighting in Bor might scupper the start of these talks," said Ethiopian Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom, who is chairman of the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) bloc that is mediating the talks. Western and regional powers have pushed both sides to end the fighting that has killed at least 1,000 people, cut South Sudan's oil output and raised fears of a full-blown civil war in the heart of a fragile region. Full Story | Top |
| Railcars in North Dakota crude train crash older, less safe: investigators Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 05:28 PM PST By Alicia Underlee Nelson FARGO, North Dakota (Reuters) - The railcars carrying crude oil that crashed into a derailed grain train in North Dakota on Monday were all older types that do not meet the latest industry safety standards, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday. Robert Sumwalt, who is leading the NTSB's investigation into the collision of two BNSF Railway Co trains, said the cylindrical tank cars on the oil train were known as DOT-111s, which are widely used to move crude and ethanol. In October 2011, the American Association of Railroads, the rail industry's trade group, adopted new standards requiring tank cars manufactured after that date to have thicker hulls and reinforced valves to better protect against punctures and leaks in derailments. "Our preliminary information is that none of the cars were of the newer design," Sumwalt said at a news conference in Fargo, North Dakota, east of the crash site. Full Story | Top |
| West Nile virus blamed for death of bald eagles in Utah Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 05:14 PM PST  An unprecedented wintertime outbreak of West Nile virus has killed more than two dozen bald eagles in Utah and thousands of water birds around the Great Salt Lake, state wildlife officials said on Tuesday. At least 27 bald eagles have died this month in the northern and central parts of Utah from the blood-borne virus, and state biologists reported that five more ailing eagles were responding to treatment at rehabilitation centers. The eagles, whose symptoms included leg paralysis and tremors, are believed to have contracted the disease by preying on sick or dead water birds called eared grebes that were infected by the West Nile virus, said Leslie McFarlane, Utah wildlife disease coordinator. Some 20,000 of the water birds have died in and around the Great Salt Lake since November in an outbreak that may be a record in North America, McFarlane said. Full Story | Top |
| Wall St. ends best year since 1990s with moderate gains Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 02:26 PM PST  Wall Street ended 2013 with its positive momentum intact, advancing in its final trading day of the year on the back of positive consumer confidence data. The S&P 500 rose 29.6 percent over the year, its best annual performance since 1997, while the Dow climbed 26.5 percent in its best year since 1995. The Nasdaq jumped 38.3 percent, its best year since 2009. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 finished the final trading day of 2013 at record closing highs. Full Story | Top |
| West Nile virus blamed for death of eagles in Utah Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 02:21 PM PST An unusual wintertime outbreak of West Nile virus has killed more than two dozen bald eagles in Utah and thousands of shore birds around the Great Salt Lake, state wildlife officials said on Tuesday. At least 27 bald eagles have died this month in the northern and central parts of Utah from the blood-borne virus, and state biologists reported that five more ailing eagles were responding to treatment at rehabilitation centers. The eagles are believed to have contracted the disease by preying on sick or dead shore birds called eared grebes that were infected by West Nile virus, said Leslie McFarlane, Utah wildlife disease coordinator. The water birds have died by the thousands in and around the Great Salt Lake since November. Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen blast natgas pipeline in Sinai: security sources Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 02:08 PM PST Unknown assailants attacked a natural gas pipeline in the Sinai on Tuesday, Egyptian security sources told Reuters, raising concerns of instability as the country pushes through with a roadmap for political transition to democracy. The blast took place in the central region of Sinai on a pipeline that carried natural gas to an industrial area. There were so far no reports of casualties and security forces are scanning the area to investigate the cause of the blast, the sources said. Egypt has been struggling to maintain stability in the country of 85 million people since the army ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, the country's first elected leader, on July 3 following mass protests against his rule. Full Story | Top |
| Residents allowed to return home after smoky North Dakota rail crash Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 01:46 PM PST By Alicia Underlee Nelson CASSELTON, North Dakota (Reuters) - Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted on Tuesday in Casselton, North Dakota, where a fiery oil train crash a day earlier triggered a series of blasts and forced residents from their homes. The 106-car BNSF Railway Co oil train struck a derailed grain train on Monday afternoon about a mile west of Casselton, a town of 2,300 people. "The environment within the city limits of Casselton is now safe for residents to return to their homes," the Cass County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. One or two train cars carrying oil were still burning, but the fire is contained, said Casselton Mayor Ed McConnell. Full Story | Top |
| TSX ends year broadly higher, gains 9.6 percent in 2013 Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 01:42 PM PST  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed out 2013 with a broad but modest gain on Tuesday, boosted by higher miners, banks, railways and energy companies, as investors looked optimistically ahead to 2014. "A nice close, and I think the momentum will probably continue on January 2nd," said David Cockfield, a portfolio manager at Northland Wealth Management. The rise capped a 9.6 percent gain for the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index in 2013, a far smaller gain than those notched by the three main U.S. indices. Much of Canada's lag can be blamed on dismal returns from mining stocks, which struggled with rising production costs and volatile prices, while U.S. stocks were more directly boosted by the U.S. Federal Reserve's massive stimulus program. Full Story | Top |
| Evacuation orders lifted in Casselton after North Dakota derailment Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 12:51 PM PST Emergency responders lifted mandatory evacuation orders on Tuesday afternoon in Casselton, North Dakota, where a BNSF train carrying oil collided with another on Monday setting off a series of blasts and a fire that is still raging. "The environment within the city limits of Casselton is now safe for residents to return to their homes," the emergency responders said in a statement. One or two of the train cars carrying oil was still burning, said Casselton Mayor Ed McConnell. One of the trains was carrying oil from the Bakken shale in North Dakota. Full Story | Top |
| Iran says nuclear deal to be implemented in late January Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 12:50 PM PST By Marcus George DUBAI (Reuters) - World powers and Iran have agreed to start implementing in late January an agreement obliging Tehran to suspend its most sensitive nuclear work, an Iranian official was quoted as saying on Tuesday. There was no immediate confirmation of the agreement from the six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - or the European Union, which oversees contacts with Iran on behalf of the six. The reported agreement follows nearly 23 hours of talks between nuclear experts from Iran and the six powers held in Geneva on Monday and Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan, rebel negotiators to arrive in Ethiopia on Wednesday: minister Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 12:08 PM PST The South Sudanese government and rebel negotiators will arrive for peace talks in Ethiopia on Wednesday, a day later than planned, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom said, as fighting raged for the control of the flashpoint town of Bor. "I'm worried that the continued fighting in Bor might scupper the start of these talks," Adhanom, who is the chair of the regional IGAD bloc mediating the talks, told Reuters by phone from the capital Addis Ababa. Full Story | Top |
| Booming North Dakota takes latest oil train wreck in stride Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 10:31 AM PST By Alicia Underlee Nelson CASSELTON, North Dakota (Reuters) - In this tiny North Dakota town, the shock of watching a dozen oil tank cars erupt into flames just a mile or two from residents' homes and businesses stirred little anxiety over the safety of the thriving oil-by-rail business. Most were thankful that the no one had been injured on Monday afternoon when an east-bound BNSF crude oil train apparently ran into a west-bound soybean shipment that had derailed. "It doesn't change my opinion on the security of the railway," says Jerome Krandall, who along with his wife and two children was the only Casselton resident to register late on Monday at a Red Cross shelter set up to house residents who had heeded a call to evacuate the town. That would have been a little bit more devastating." The incident, at least the fourth major explosive derailment this year involving a train hauling oil, is certain to fuel more debate over additional safety measures to address the oil-by-rail boom, including more stringent rules on highly flammable types of crude or costly retrofits of tank cars. Full Story | Top |
| Don't be blind to refugees and the needy, pope says in appeal Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 10:18 AM PST  Pope Francis urged the people of Rome not to let the beauty of their city to blind them to the growing number of homeless, refugees, and unemployed living among them. Francis, who is also the bishop of Rome, has made appeals for people to reach out to the poor in a personal way a hallmark of his papacy, presided at a solemn vespers ceremony on Tuesday in St. Peter's to mark the end of the year. "Rome is full of tourists but it is also full of refugees," the head of the 1.2 billion member Roman Catholic Church said in his homily at the service known as the "Te Deum" prayers of thanksgiving. According to the Italian Catholic charity group Sant' Egidio, which helps the poor, refugees and immigrants, there are about 8,000 homeless people in Rome and the number has grown by about 10 percent in recent years. Full Story | Top |
| Armed men attack Yemen police headquarters, wounding seven Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 10:00 AM PST  Armed men including a suicide bomber tried to storm police headquarters in southern Yemen's main city on Tuesday, wounding seven policemen, state media reported. The men tried to force their way into the compound in Aden in several cars, with the bomber blowing himself up in one of the vehicles which was packed with explosives, news agency SABA said. They exchanged gunfire with police, who prevented the attackers from entering the building, SABA quoted Najeeb Maghlas, deputy general director of security in Aden, as saying. Security sources earlier told Reuters police averted another suicide bombing attempt on the same building, and they had arrested two people who admitted links to al Qaeda. Full Story | Top |
| Six new cases of MERS virus hit Saudi Arabia, UAE Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 07:39 AM PST Another five people in Saudi Arabia and one in the United Arab Emirates have become infected with the potentially deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday. The new infections, including one fatal case in a 73-year-old Saudi man and three in Saudi health workers who showed no adverse symptoms, bring the total confirmed cases of the respiratory disease to 176, of which 74 have died, the United Nations health agency said. MERS emerged in the Middle East in 2012 and is from the same family as the SARS virus. Although the worldwide number of MERS infections is fairly small, the more than 40 percent death rate among confirmed cases and the spread of the virus beyond the Middle East is keeping scientists and public health officials on alert. Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment