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Gingrich fights off rivals in Iowa debate
Sat,10 Dec 2011 08:17 PM PST
Reuters -  DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Surging frontrunner Newt Gingrich fought off heavy attacks in a presidential debate in Iowa on Saturday from Republican rivals who portrayed him as a Washington insider and questioned his judgment. Gingrich, portrayed by critics at times as rash and petulant, kept his cool as his Republican rivals criticized him for making up to $1.6 million from housing giant Freddie Mac, for saying Palestinians were an "invented" people and for his troubled marital past. ...
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U.N. climate talks reach modest deal
Sat,10 Dec 2011 08:13 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Negotiators at U.N. climate talks in Durban, South Africa, reached a deal that for the first time would bring all major emitters into international efforts to limit global warming, but which environmentalists said did not go far enough. Following is reaction from key players and observers. UNITED STATES CLIMATE ENVOY TODD STERN "In the end, it ended up quite well. The (Durban platform) is the piece that was the matching piece with the Kyoto Protocol. We got the kind of symmetry that we had been focused on since the beginning of the Obama administration. ... Full Story | Top |
U.N. climate talks seal legal pact on global warming
Sat,10 Dec 2011 07:59 PM PST
Reuters -  DURBAN (Reuters) - U.N. climate change talks agreed on a pact on Sunday that for the first time would force all the biggest polluters to take action to slow the pace of global changing. The deal follows years of failed attempts to impose legally-binding, international cuts on emerging giants, such as China and India. The developed world had already accepted formal targets under a first phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which runs out at the end of next year, although the United States had never ratified its commitment. ...
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Romney's $10,000 bet falls flat in Iowa debate
Sat,10 Dec 2011 07:58 PM PST
Reuters -  DES MOINES (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney put his money where his mouth was on Saturday in a quip at a presidential debate that may have backfired. Romney, a multi-millionaire and a frontrunner for the Republican nomination, offered a $10,000 bet to opponent Texas Gov. Rick Perry in an argument over what Romney wrote about healthcare in his book "No Apologies." Former Massachusetts governor Romney tried to bet that he had not supported implementing an individual healthcare mandate, mistrusted by conservatives. "Rick, I'll tell you what: 10,000 bucks?," Romney said. ...
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U.N. climate talks agree pact to slow global warming
Sat,10 Dec 2011 07:32 PM PST
Reuters - DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - U.N. climate change talks agreed a pact on Sunday that for the first time would force all the biggest polluters to take action to slow the pace of global warming. The deal follows years of failed attempts to impose legally-binding, international cuts on emerging giants, such as China and India. Full Story | Top |
Clegg furious over EU treaty veto - papers
Sat,10 Dec 2011 06:44 PM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Newspapers quoted sources close to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as saying he was angry with David Cameron for vetoing a new EU treaty, in an apparent sign of widening cracks in the coalition. In public, the Europhile Clegg has publicly backed Cameron, saying Britain made reasonable demands at the European summit on Friday and the coalition was united on the issue. But the Independent on Sunday quoted sources as saying Clegg was privately furious. ...
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Factbox: Key quotes from the Republican presidential debate
Sat,10 Dec 2011 06:43 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopefuls competing for the chance to take on U.S. President Barack Obama in 2012 debated one another in Iowa on Saturday, where the state-by-state Republican nominating contest kicks off in less than a month. Here are some of their main quotes. MITT ROMNEY, FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR On his differences with Gingrich: "The real difference I believe is our backgrounds. ... I spent my life in the private sector. ... Full Story | Top |
Peru's Humala picks ex-army officer to lead Cabinet
Sat,10 Dec 2011 06:19 PM PST
Reuters -  LIMA (Reuters) - President Ollanta Humala replaced his prime minister on Saturday with a former army officer who was his instructor in the military in a surprise shake-up that could signal a more authoritarian governing style in Peru. Oscar Valdes, who had been Humala's interior minister, will replace Salomon Lerner, a businessman who was the most powerful centrist in the government and helped Humala shed his left-wing image to win election in June. ...
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Argentine leader vows to fine-tune model in 2nd term
Sat,10 Dec 2011 04:37 PM PST
Reuters -  BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Cristina Fernandez began a second term as Argentine president on Saturday, vowing to make the economy more competitive by fine-tuning the offbeat, high-growth policies that please voters but spook investors. The center-left leader won a landslide re-election in October to four more years in office on the back of sizzling economic growth and a wave of sympathy following the death last year of her husband and predecessor as president, Nestor Kirchner. ...
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London protest against Kabila vote turns violent
Sat,10 Dec 2011 04:26 PM PST
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - British police said they arrested 143 people in central London Saturday after a demonstration against the re-election of President Joseph Kabila in the Democratic Republic of Congo turned violent. Most of the arrests came at around 2100 GMT after a group broke away from the main protest in Trafalgar Square and began to damage property including cars and shops, London's Metropolitan police said. Members of the public were also threatened. ... Full Story | Top |
West warns Syria against storming rebel city
Sat,10 Dec 2011 03:55 PM PST
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - France called on world powers to "save the Syrian people" on Saturday as it joined the United States and Britain in raising an alarm that President Bashar al-Assad's forces may be about to storm the rebel stronghold of Homs. In Damascus, the government denied any crackdown, while accusing its opponents of taking up arms and warning the rebels' supporters in the West that Syria could count on Russia, China and others to oppose any foreign intervention in its affairs. ... Full Story | Top |
Peru's Humala picks ex-army officer to lead Cabinet
Sat,10 Dec 2011 03:51 PM PST
Reuters - LIMA (Reuters) - President Ollanta Humala replaced his prime minister on Saturday with a former army officer who was his instructor in the military in an unexpected Cabinet shake-up that stunned Peru. Oscar Valdes, who until now had been Humala's interior minister, will replace Salomon Lerner, a businessman who was the most powerful centrist in the government and had helped Humala shed his left-wing image to win election in June. ...
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Draft U.N. climate accord emerges, debate turns ugly
Sat,10 Dec 2011 03:11 PM PST
Reuters -  DURBAN (Reuters) - The chairwoman of U.N. climate talks urged delegates to approve a compromise deal on fighting global warming in the interests of the planet, but an accord remained elusive on Sunday and rich and poor states traded barbs over the limited scope of the package. South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said the four separate texts represented a good outcome after two weeks of sometimes angry debates in the port city of Durban. "I think we all realize they are not perfect. ...
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Factbox: Argentine president's likely second-term policies
Sat,10 Dec 2011 03:04 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez began a second four-year term on Saturday with a strong mandate to intensify the unorthodox economic policies that critics say have left the country ill-prepared for a global slowdown. Controversial measures such as curbs on beef and wheat exports and the sudden takeover of private pensions go down well with Fernandez's leftist supporters but are generally unpopular with investors, big business and farmers. ... Full Story | Top |
Argentine leader vows to fine-tune model in second term
Sat,10 Dec 2011 03:04 PM PST
Reuters -  BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Cristina Fernandez began a second term as Argentine president Saturday, vowing to fine-tune her offbeat, high-growth policies that please voters but spook investors. Fernandez won a landslide re-election in October on the back of sizzling economic growth and a wave of sympathy following the death last year of her husband and predecessor as president, Nestor Kirchner. ...
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Provocative U.S. nuclear chief faces political test
Sat,10 Dec 2011 02:46 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The embattled chief of the U.S. nuclear safety regulator found some powerful political support on Saturday ahead of Capitol Hill hearings next week that will scrutinize his bid to enact sweeping safety reforms. Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is locked in a bitter battle with fellow regulators over how to move forward on expensive changes for the nation's 104 nuclear reactors - reforms prompted by Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident in March. ...
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Obama, at Army-Navy football game, praises troops
Sat,10 Dec 2011 02:27 PM PST
Reuters -  LANDOVER, Maryland (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, attending his first Army-Navy football game as commander in chief on Saturday, praised the dedication of the country's armed forces ahead of a week in which he will focus heavily on the end of America's war in Iraq. "As much fun as these things are, part of what we celebrate is the dedication and the sacrifice all these young men and young women who are in the stands are going to be making for our country," Obama told the game's commentators during the first half of the match between the U.S. Army and Navy academies. Virtually all U.S. ...
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Libya leaders send U.N. new appeal to unfreeze funds
Sat,10 Dec 2011 02:12 PM PST
Reuters -  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Senior figures in Libya's new leadership have written a letter to the United Nations asking it to release funds still frozen three months after the country's civil war ended, the central bank chief said on Saturday. When a rebellion broke out in February against the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, the U.N. Security Council froze Libyan assets estimated at $150 billion, but the bulk of that sum remains beyond the reach of the new Libyan rulers. ...
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Gunfire in Congo after Kabila wins disputed poll
Sat,10 Dec 2011 01:45 PM PST
Reuters -  KINSHASA (Reuters) - Gunfire erupted in parts of Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, with reports of police firing live ammunition and crowds ransacking shops, a day after election authorities declared President Joseph Kabila re-elected. The U.S.-based Carter Center observer mission said the results issued by Congo's election commission "lack credibility" and pointed to uncounted ballots in opposition strongholds and "impossibly high" turnout in places where Kabila is favored. ...
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Cuba stops dissident Rights Day protest, 200 held
Sat,10 Dec 2011 12:29 PM PST
Reuters - HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban dissidents said on Saturday that about 200 people were temporarily detained by the Communist-run island's security services in the days leading up to an international human rights celebration. Government supporters danced salsa and chanted political slogans in a Havana square to mark the 63rd anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations. Opposition members who had planned to celebrate Human Rights Day in the same place, and protest against abuses in Cuba, were blocked from going to the square, dissidents said. ... Full Story | Top |
Gingrich vs Romney rivalry in Iowa debate spotlight
Sat,10 Dec 2011 12:25 PM PST
Reuters -  DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - The budding rivalry between surging Newt Gingrich and former frontrunner Mitt Romney will take center stage on Saturday in the first of two Republican presidential debates in Iowa over the next five days. Gingrich, Romney and four other White House contenders will make their case to voters in a race that polls show is still up for grabs less than a month before Iowa kicks off the state-by-state Republican nominating contest. The debate will be broadcast nationally on ABC at 9 p.m. EST from Drake University in Des Moines. ...
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New Yemen cabinet meets; Nobel winner says Saleh wants war
Sat,10 Dec 2011 12:21 PM PST
Reuters -  SANAA/OSLO (Reuters) - Fighting overshadowed the first meeting on Saturday of Yemen's new unity government, which is trying to avert civil war after a deal brokered by the country's Gulf neighbors for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. A Yemeni activist, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, said the conscience of the world should be haunted by its failure to help Yemen's democratic uprising, and warned that Saleh would choose war rather than fulfill his pledge to quit. ...
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Thousands of Russians protest against Putin
Sat,10 Dec 2011 12:13 PM PST
Reuters -  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people in Moscow and thousands more in cities across Russia demanded an end to Vladimir Putin's rule and a rerun of a parliamentary election on Saturday in the biggest opposition protests since he rose to power 12 years ago. Potesters waved banners such as "The rats should go!" and "Swindlers and thieves - give us our elections back!" in cities from the Pacific port of Vladivostok in the east to Kaliningrad in the west, nearly 7,400 km (4,600 miles) away. ...
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Protesters chant for a "Russia without Putin"
Sat,10 Dec 2011 11:43 AM PST
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - In the middle of the crowd on Saturday at Russia's largest opposition protest in years, a big banner bore a simple message: Putin must go. Anger over Russia's December 4 parliamentary election drew a diverse crowd to a cold embankment in Moscow, where they stood for hours under wet snow to demand a rerun of a vote Putin's foes say was rigged in his ruling United Russia party's favor. But while organizers did not include the prime minister's resignation in their list of demands, much of the ire was directed at Putin. ... Full Story | Top |
Controversial Texas license plates put Perry on the spot
Sat,10 Dec 2011 11:20 AM PST
Reuters -  SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The approval of a specialty Texas vehicle license plate which says "One State Under God" and shows three crosses has again put Texas Governor Rick Perry on the spot in the Republican presidential race. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles board, all of whom were appointed by Perry, voted 4-3 Thursday to approve the controversial plate, dubbed "Calvary Hill. ...
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Yemen leader will choose war, not quit: Nobel winner
Sat,10 Dec 2011 10:45 AM PST
Reuters -  OSLO (Reuters) - The world's conscience should be haunted for its failure to help the democratic uprising in Yemen, where President Ali Abdullah Saleh will choose civil war rather than quit, said an activist accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on Saturday. Speaking after receiving the prize at a ceremony in Oslo, 32-year-old Yemeni journalist Tawakul Karman said Saleh, who promised last month to stand down by February, "will not leave. He wants to (push) the country into civil war. ...
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Zimbabwe's octogenarian Mugabe says wrong to step down
Sat,10 Dec 2011 10:42 AM PST
Reuters -  BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's 87-year-old president Robert Mugabe on Saturday brushed aside calls to step down, telling supporters who endorsed him as candidate in the next presidential election that he would not quit as long as the West maintained sanctions on his party. Mugabe's allies are pressing for elections next year, instead of 2013 when they are due and when Mugabe would be 89, fearing that he may not cope with the pressure of campaigning. ...
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China says already part of effort to help Europe
Sat,10 Dec 2011 09:23 AM PST
Reuters -  VIENNA (Reuters) - China will remain part of international efforts to help Europe through its crisis, vice foreign minister Fu Ying said on Saturday, dismissing the idea that Beijing was sitting back as the region suffered. "China will be part of the international effort to help Europe. We've done a lot, we have been so much in it, Europeans know it," she told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Vienna. ...
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More than 800 people hacked by UK tabloid: police
Sat,10 Dec 2011 08:45 AM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - More than 800 people have had their telephones illegally hacked by the now-defunct News of the World tabloid, British police investigating the alleged practice said on Saturday. A statement by London's Metropolitan Police said 2,037 people had been contacted during the year-long investigation, of whom 803 are alleged victims of hacking by the best-selling tabloid, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. It was the first time police provided an overall figure for alleged victims of News of the World hacking. ...
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ECB's Weidmann applauds summit "progress": paper
Sat,10 Dec 2011 08:23 AM PST
Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann on Saturday welcomed the EU summit's results as progress in fighting the euro zone's debt crisis and reiterated his opposition to calls for the European Central Bank to do more. "I have always stressed we need reliable perspectives for solid public finances in individual member states. I see progress in the summit results," Weidmann told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung to be published on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
Ministers battle to save UN climate talks
Sat,10 Dec 2011 07:36 AM PST
Reuters -  DURBAN (Reuters) - Ministers fought to save U.N. climate talks from collapse on Saturday, searching to narrow differences between rich and poor nations over how quickly to fight global warming. Ministerial negotiations in the South African port city of Durban dragged into Saturday afternoon but with many delegates due to head home, there was a strong chance real decisions would be put off until next year. ...
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Air strike hits empty Somalia Red Crescent centre
Sat,10 Dec 2011 07:32 AM PST
Reuters - MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A warplane bombed a rebel-held town in southern Somalia Saturday, hitting an empty feeding center run by the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) and killing one civilian, residents said. They could not identify who carried out the attack in the town of Baardheere. Kenya, which is eight weeks into a ground and air offensive to crush the al Shabaab rebel group, said on Saturday it had launched an air strike earlier this week on a compound nearby. ... Full Story | Top |
Analysis: Protests add to investor Russia concern
Sat,10 Dec 2011 07:30 AM PST
Reuters - LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Rising discontent with the 12-year rule of Russia's Vladimir Putin and the likelihood of more turmoil before presidential elections next March are adding an extra layer of concern for foreign investors. Unexpected public fury over last weekend's parliamentary election have led to protests, which could gather steam in coming weeks to pose challenges to Putin as he sets his sights on returning to the Kremlin. ... Full Story | Top |
Factbox: Countries to consider tiny steps in climate draft
Sat,10 Dec 2011 06:49 AM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Countries would consider on Saturday small, incremental progress in a draft paper on cutting carbon emissions and preparing for a warmer world, at a climate conference in Durban. That may be the only outcome of the U.N.-backed conference which over-ran on Saturday, as separately negotiators struggled on bigger commitments to agree in future a global climate deal, to extend the existing, limited Kyoto Protocol, and to launch a Green Climate Fund. ... Full Story | Top |
Gunfire in Congo after Kabila wins disputed poll
Sat,10 Dec 2011 05:39 AM PST
Reuters -  KINSHASA (Reuters) - Clashes between opposition protesters and security forces broke out in parts of Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, killing at least one, a day after election authorities named incumbent President Joseph Kabila winner of a disputed poll. Gunfire rang out in some cities, including the capital Kinshasa, after Kabila's main challenger, Etienne Tshisekedi, said he rejected the official results and declared himself the new leader of the vast central African state. ...
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Somalia air strike hits empty Red Crescent feeding
Sat,10 Dec 2011 05:31 AM PST
Reuters - MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A warplane bombed the rebel-held southern Somali town of Baardheere on Saturday, hitting a feeding centre run by the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) that was empty at the time, local residents said. It was not clear who carried out the attack but Kenya, which is eight weeks into a ground and air offensive to crush the al Shabaab rebel group, acknowledged on Saturday it launched another air strike on the town earlier this week. ... Full Story | Top |
Pro-government Bahrain marchers target opposition group offices
Sat,10 Dec 2011 05:21 AM PST
Reuters -  DUBAI (Reuters) - Dozens of pro-government demonstrators marched to the offices of a Bahraini opposition party on Saturday and daubed the building with graffiti against majority Shi'ites and Iran, residents said. They said "Down with Iran" and "Shi'ites get out" were among the slogans written on the offices of Waad, a secular party aligned with the largest Shi'ite opposition group Wefaq which was at the forefront of protests against the Sunni-led government this year. U.S. ...
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Iowa's religious conservatives up in air on 2012
Sat,10 Dec 2011 05:04 AM PST
Reuters -  CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) - Frozen by indecision, Iowa's politically powerful religious conservatives are still on the sidelines in the Republican presidential race less than a month before the state's kick-off nominating contest. After helping to propel Mike Huckabee to victory over Mitt Romney in the state in 2008, many of Iowa's evangelicals are struggling this time to choose among the handful of Republican candidates vying for their support. ...
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Gingrich fuels more Mideast conflict: Palestinians
Sat,10 Dec 2011 04:58 AM PST
Reuters -  RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian leaders said on Saturday U.S. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich had invited more conflict in the Middle East by calling the Palestinians an "invented" people who want to destroy Israel. Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official, described his comments in an interview as "despicable." Hanan Ashrawi, another top official, said Gingrich's "very racist comments" showed he was "incapable of holding public office. ...
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Liberia focus on reconciliation, youth jobs
Sat,10 Dec 2011 04:35 AM PST
Reuters - OSLO (Reuters) - President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said the main challenges for Liberia in a "difficult" period after a controversial election were reconciliation and finding work for former child soldiers. Johnson-Sirleaf, in Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace prize, also said that Liberia, unlike many other African nations, was not considering a special mining tax and the focus of her second term would shift to agriculture from mineral resources. ... Full Story | Top |
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