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| Japan opposition LDP remains election favorite: poll Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 07:54 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is holding its lead ahead of December 16 election, opinion polls showed on Monday, with the hawkish Japan Restoration Party (JRP) led by a nationalist former Tokyo governor coming second. The Yomiuri daily poll showed that 25 percent of voters would choose the LDP, which is calling for aggressive monetary steps to end deflation, well ahead of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) 10 percent support. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argonauts rout Stampeders in CFL's 100th Grey Cup championship Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 07:51 PM PST  TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Argonauts were crowned the Canadian Football League's (CFL) 100th Grey Cup champions on Sunday after crushing the Calgary Stampeders 35-22. Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray, brought to Toronto during the offseason in a trade that shook the league, opened the game with an interception but ended with 231 passing yards, including touchdowns passes to Chad Owens and Andre Durie. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo says no talks with rebels unless they quit Goma Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 07:24 PM PST  GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Congo said on Sunday it would not negotiate with M23 rebels in the east until they pulled out of the city of Goma, but a rebel spokesman said Kinshasa was in no position to set conditions on peace talks. Congolese President Joseph Kabila met with M23 for the first time on Saturday after an urgent summit in Uganda where regional leaders gave M23 two days to leave Goma, which the rebels seized six days ago after U.N.-backed government troops melted away. Eight months into a rebellion that U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian rebels take airbase in slow progress toward Damascus Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 07:22 PM PST  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels said on Sunday they had captured a helicopter base east of Damascus after an overnight assault, their latest gain in a costly battle to unseat President Bashar al-Assad that is drawing nearer to his seat of power. The Marj al-Sultan base, 15 km (10 miles) from the capital, is the second military facility on the outskirts of the city reported to have fallen to Assad's opponents this month. Activists said rebels had destroyed two helicopters and taken 15 prisoners. ... Full Story | Top |
| Catalan election weakens bid for independence from Spain Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 06:06 PM PST  BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Separatists in Spain's Catalonia won regional elections on Sunday but failed to get a resounding mandate for a referendum on independence, which had threatened to pile political uncertainty on top of Spain's economic woes. Catalan President Artur Mas, who has implemented unpopular spending cuts, had called an early election to test support for his new drive for independence for Catalonia, a wealthy but financially troubled region in northeastern Spain. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's princelings come of age in new leadership Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 06:02 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - In China they are known as "princelings" â€" the privileged children of the revolutionary founders of the People's Republic of China. And in the generational leadership change that just took place in Beijing, it could not have been clearer that having the right family bloodlines is among the most important attributes an ambitious cadre could possess. Of the seven men who now comprise the Communist Party's new politburo standing committee, the apex of political power in China, four are members of "the red aristocracy", led by the new general secretary of the party, Xi Jinping. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bersani to face Renzi in runoff vote for Italy left leader Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 05:29 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Pier Luigi Bersani, head of Italy's Democratic Party, will face his main rival Matteo Renzi in a runoff next week to pick the center-left candidate to fight to succeed Mario Monti as prime minister following the first round of a primary vote on Sunday. With almost half the results counted, Bersani led with about 44 percent, ahead of Renzi, the youthful mayor of Florence, who was campaigning as a modernizer, at around 36 percent, according to party officials. ... Full Story | Top |
| Voters in tsunami-hit zone feel let down as Japan election nears Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 04:59 PM PST  IWAKI/KAMAISHI, Japan (Reuters) - Three weeks before Japan's first national election since the March 2011 earthquake, none of the contenders has managed to win the hearts, and votes, of those hardest-hit by the disaster - with many feeling let down by the entire political class. Volunteers and donations had poured in after the magnitude 9.0 quake off the northeast coast of Japan's main island Honshu unleashed a deadly tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 and triggered reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant. ... Full Story | Top |
| Separatists winning in Catalonia, Spain: early results Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 03:43 PM PST  BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Four separatist parties in Spain's Catalonia looked set to win a majority in regional elections on Sunday, partial results showed, but the main one was on course to lose some seats, possibly undermining its bid to call an independence referendum. With half of votes counted, the ruling Convergence and Union alliance, or CiU, was winning 48 seats in the 135-seat local parliament, well down from its current 62 seats. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi to meet judges over power grab Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 03:14 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi will meet senior judges on Monday to try to ease a crisis over his seizure of new powers which has set off violent protests reminiscent of last year's revolution which brought him to power. Egypt's stock market plunged on Sunday in its first day open since Mursi issued a decree late on Thursday temporarily widening his powers and shielding his decisions from judicial review, drawing accusations he was behaving like a new dictator. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi to meet judicial council on decree Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 02:11 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi will meet members of the state's highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, on Monday to discuss his decree shielding his decisions from judicial review, state media reported. (Reporting by Ali Abdelatti and Tom Perry; Writing by Yasmine Saleh; Editing by Alison Williams) Full Story | Top |
| One killed, 60 hurt in an attack on Egypt's Brotherhood office Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 02:11 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - A Muslim Brotherhood member was killed and 60 people were injured on Sunday in an attack on the main office of the Brotherhood in the Egyptian Nile Delta town of Damanhour, the website of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said. "Brotherhood member, Islam Fathy Masoud, 15, was killed and 60 were injured after thugs attacked the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Damanhour in the total absence of police forces," the website said (Reporting by Ali ABdelatti, writing by Yasmine Saleh) Full Story | Top |
| Stray bullets from Syria hit Israeli border patrol vehicle: army Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 02:09 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli military border patrol vehicle was hit by stray bullets fired from Syria in the Golan Heights on Sunday but there were no casualties, a military spokeswoman said. The incident was the latest apparent stray firing during gunbattles in Syria between the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and insurgents who have been fighting a 20-month-long civil war. "Gunfire hit a patrol vehicle along the border but caused no damage; a complaint was lodged with the United Nations which is investigating," the spokeswoman said. ... Full Story | Top |
| European lawmaker Strasser on trial for corruption Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 02:03 PM PST VIENNA (Reuters) - Disgraced Austrian politician Ernst Strasser goes on trial on Monday in a corruption case that has undermined trust in European and Austrian institutions. The former Austrian interior minister and European lawmaker could face 10 years in jail if convicted, after being caught on camera offering to propose amendments to European laws in exchange for 100,000 euros ($130,000 a year). Strasser, 56, was exposed last year by undercover journalists from Britain's Sunday Times posing as lobbyists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Air raid kills 10 children near Damascus: activists Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 01:47 PM PST AMMAN (Reuters) - A Syrian government air strike on a rebel-held village near Damascus killed 10 children on Sunday as they played outdoors, opposition activists said, and video footage showed residents collecting young bodies torn by shrapnel. The children went out after a lull in fighting in Deir al-Asafir, a village 12 km (8 miles) east of Damascus, when fighter jets struck, activists and residents said. Video footage taken by activists showed the bodies of two young girls, one wearing purple, the other red, on the street in the village, with wounds to their neck and head. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eight dead, human remains found in northern Mexico Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 01:43 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican authorities discovered the bodies of eight men and the remains of others in the northern state of Chihuahua over the weekend, the local government said on Sunday. The eight victims, who were aged 30-35, were found by a road roughly 50 miles south of the city of Chihuahua. The victims had been tortured and shot in the head, a spokesman for the state government said. State prosecutors also found a grave containing the remains of men who died roughly two years ago in the desert area just south of the city of Ciudad Juarez, near the U.S. border. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bersani leads after Italy center-left primary Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 01:42 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Pier Luigi Bersani, head of Italy's Democratic Party, led his main rival Matteo Renzi in a primary to pick the center-left candidate in next year's election, early counting indicated on Sunday, setting the stage for a final runoff vote next week. With almost a third of the vote counted, Bersani had about 44.6 percent, ahead of Renzi, the 37 year-old mayor of Florence, who was campaigning as a moderniser, on 36.5 percent, according to party officials. Nichi Vendola, the openly gay head of the left-wing Left, Ecology, Freedom party was in third place with 14. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Scandals and successes of China's princelings Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 01:19 PM PST (Reuters) - China's princelings, the children of the country's political elite, have often had a poor image with a string of scandals in the past three decades, including execution for hooliganism, defection and more recently murder and corruption. These young men and women were reviled by many in the 1980s for their privileges and enriching themselves as China opened up. But their image has improved in recent years as many of them have risen to political power. Some have championed egalitarianism, while others have vowed to fight widespread corruption. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Shadow of Roh" neck and neck with dictator's daughter before South Korea polls Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 01:11 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's December presidential election looks set to turn into a referendum on two of the country's most polarizing leaders as the daughter of military dictator Park Chung-hee faces off against a former aide to ex-President Roh Moo-hyun. Park's authoritarian rule propelled South Korea from poverty to the cusp of developed-nation status and ended when he was assassinated in 1979. ... Full Story | Top |
| Separatists lead Catalonia vote in Spain: partial result Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 12:43 PM PST BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Four separatist parties in Spain's Catalonia looked set to win a majority in regional elections on Sunday, partial results showed, but the main one was on course to lose some seats, possibly undermining its bid to call an independence referendum. With a quarter of votes counted, the ruling Convergence and Union alliance, or CiU, was winning 47 seats in the 135-seat local parliament, well down from its current 62 seats. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbia Democrats elect Belgrade mayor as new party leader Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 12:03 PM PST BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's pro-Western Democratic Party elected mayor of Belgrade Dragan Djilas as its new leader on Sunday who pledged to reform the party following an election defeat in May. Addressing a party congress, 45-year-old Djilas said the Democrats had to take their share of responsibility for unemployment, now over 25 percent, double-digit inflation and a public debt seen at 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of this year. "The fact is that we are responsible ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Ruling CiU seen winning Catalonia vote, but losing seats Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 11:21 AM PST MADRID (Reuters) - The ruling Convergence and Union alliance, or CiU, is expected to get the most votes in regional elections in Spain's Catalonia on Sunday, according to an exit poll by TV3, Catalan public television. CiU, whose leader Artur Mas says he will call a referendum on Catalan independence from Spain, is seen winning 54-57 seats in the 135-seat regional assembly, or Parlament. That is down from the 62 seats it currently holds, and far from the absolute majority Mas had aimed for. The Republican Left, or ERC, would take second place, the exit poll showed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel says successfully tests more powerful rocket interceptor Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 11:17 AM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A new Israeli air shield against rockets more powerful than those intercepted by Iron Dome in the Gaza conflict passed its first field test last week after being rushed through development, officials said on Sunday. They said that David's Sling, billed as Israel's answer to the longer-range missiles of Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and Syria, shot down a target rocket in a secret November 20 desert trial that coincided with fierce shelling exchanges between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Liberian president Taylor should be a "free man": judge Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 10:17 AM PST  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Former Liberian President Charles Taylor should have walked free and not been jailed for war crimes because there was not enough evidence to prove he was guilty beyond reasonable doubt, a judge involved in his trial said in a magazine interview. Justice Malick Sow's criticism of how the trial was conducted and of the final decision-making process are likely to be seized on by Taylor's defence lawyers as part of his appeal. Taylor, 64, was the first head of state convicted by an international court since the trials of Nazis after World War Two. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eight policemen wounded in Russian prison protest Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 09:33 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Eight Russian policemen were injured trying to disperse a crowd outside a prison where 250 inmates staged a roof-top protest demanding the release of a group of fellow prisoners from a punishment cell, authorities said on Sunday. Russian state television showed pictures of a group of inmates standing on the roof of the prison holding white banners reading "people, help" in the town of Kopeysk near the industrial city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals mountains. ... Full Story | Top |
| Experts say Ireland should clarify abortion laws Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 08:57 AM PST  DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland should allow limited access to abortion by clarifying the conditions under which women can terminate pregnancies, experts have concluded in a report that will fuel a debate which has split the country and led to tensions within the coalition. Abortion was banned in all circumstances in overwhelmingly Catholic Ireland by a 1983 constitutional amendment, but when the ban was challenged in 1992 by a 14-year-old rape victim, the Supreme Court ruled a termination was permitted when the woman's life was at risk, including from suicide. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt presidency: Mursi decrees "temporary", wants talks Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 08:11 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian presidency said on Sunday it was committed to engaging "all political forces" to reach common ground on the constitution and stressed the "temporary nature" of a decree expanding President Mohamed Mursi's powers. "This declaration is deemed necessary in order to hold accountable those responsible for the corruption as well as other crimes during the previous regime and the transitional period," the presidency said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt decree should have limited use: judicial council Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 08:01 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's highest judicial authority said a decree issued by President Mohamed Mursi and which shields his decisions from judicial review must only be applied to decisions or laws relating to "sovereign matters". The Supreme Judicial Council in a statement read on state TV also called on judges to keep courts and prosecution offices functioning after the influential Judges' Club called on Saturday for a countrywide strike in protest at Mursi's decree. (Reporting by Cairo Bureau; Editing by Alison Williams) Full Story | Top |
| German Pirates Party struggles to define policy and stay afloat Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 07:58 AM PST  BOCHUM, Germany (Reuters) - Germany's fast-sinking Pirates Party struggled to overcome infighting at a congress that ended on Sunday and chart a course for next year's federal elections that may see it cast into political oblivion as swiftly as it arrived. Support for the Pirates, who surprisingly won seats in four states over the past year, has shrunk to around a quarter of its peak. Their demise could help the centre left recover enough votes to oust conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bombs kill 11 at military church in Nigeria Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 07:44 AM PST KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Two suicide bombs killed at least 11 people on Sunday at a church in a barracks in northern Nigeria, where the Islamist sect Boko Haram is waging a campaign of violence, the military said. Army spokesman Bola Koleoso said a bus drove into the side of the St. Andrew Military Protestant Church at the Jaji barracks in Kaduna state and exploded at around 1105 GMT, five minutes after a service had started. Explosives inside a Toyota Camry were detonated outside the church ten minutes later, he said. The military said at least 30 were injured. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's justice minister seeks to end rift with judges Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 06:48 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky has started mediation efforts to try to end a crisis between Egypt's executive and judicial authorities, state TV reported on Sunday. It was the first public sign of a government attempt to resolve a crisis ignited by President Mohamed Mursi's decision to expand his powers and protect his decisions from judicial review. Mekky, who has said he has "some reservations" about Mursi's decree, convened a meeting at the Supreme Court headquarters in Cairo, state TV reported, without giving further details. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK calls for U.S. focus on Israel-Palestinian issue Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 06:24 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Sunday urged the United States to take a more active role in seeking a lasting settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, warning of a "final chance" for a two-state solution. Eight days of fighting between Israel and Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled enclave of Gaza diverted U.S. President Barack Obama's attention to the Middle East as he toured Asia on his first trip abroad after this month's election. Hague told the BBC it was "time for a huge effort on the Middle East peace process". ... Full Story | Top |
| China lands fighter jet on new carrier in show of force Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 06:18 AM PST  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has carried out its first successful landing of a fighter jet on its first aircraft carrier, state media said on Sunday, a symbolically significant development as Asian neighbors fret about the world's most populous country's military ambitions. The home-built J-15 fighter jet took off from and landed on the Liaoning, a reconditioned Soviet-era vessel from Ukraine which only came into service in September this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy centre left picks candidate for next PM Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 06:14 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy's centre left voted on Sunday to choose the candidate who will be the leading contender to succeed Mario Monti as prime minister after an election in March and take charge of steering the country through a deep recession. Opinion surveys show Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani is the frontrunner among five candidates, followed by Florence mayor Matteo Renzi, who has vowed to shake up Italy's political establishment if he is chosen to lead the alliance. The vote will eliminate a major element of uncertainty in choosing a successor to Monti's technocrat government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain rejects ETA call for talks, saying group must disband Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 05:40 AM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's government rejected an offer of talks from armed Basque separatists ETA and demanded the group dissolve itself without conditions, after ETA called for negotiations on prisoners and a weapons handover. ETA said in a statement published in Basque media on the weekend it wanted to enter talks with Spain and France to negotiate a definitive end to military operations and a handover of its arms. "The only statement we expect and demand is for its unconditional dissolution," Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz told reporters on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hezbollah says could hit all of Israel in future war Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 05:37 AM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel on Sunday that thousands of rockets would rain down on Tel Aviv and cities across the Jewish state if it attacked Lebanon. Speaking four days after the ceasefire which ended a week of conflict between Israel and the Islamist Hamas rulers of Gaza, Nasrallah said Hezbollah's response to any attack would dwarf the rocket fire launched from Palestinian territories. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany's SPD leader admits problem with women voters Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 05:36 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Peer Steinbrueck, leading his centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) party into September's federal election against German Chancellor Angela Merkel, admitted that he has a problem with women voters and said he would not change to appeal to them. "It may well be the case that I come across as too cerebral and not emotional enough for women between the age of 18 to their early 40s," he said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper published on Sunday. "I'm not going to turn into 'Cuddly Peer' because of that. It wouldn't seem genuine in a role like that," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt stocks plunge after Mursi power grab Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 04:41 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's stock market plunged on Sunday in its first day open since Islamist President Mohamed Mursi seizure of new powers set off street violence and a political crisis, unraveling efforts to restore stability after last year's revolution. More than 500 people have been injured in protests since Friday, when Egyptians awoke to news that Mursi had issued a decree widening his powers and shielding them from judicial review. Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters were expected to turn out again on the streets in a show of support after prayers on Sunday afternoon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain's Catalonia set to vote in separatists Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 04:26 AM PST BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Spain's Catalans, angry over rising unemployment and persistent recession, were expected to deliver their separatist leader a mandate in Sunday's regional vote to press for secession. Opinion polls show two-thirds of voters will vote for parties that want Catalan independence, and the election may therefore provoke a constitutional crisis over the legality of a referendum on independence. Pro-independence flags, a star against red and yellow stripes, hung over balconies all over Barcelona, its capital city. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope tells new cardinals: shun "worldly logic of power" Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 03:52 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Sunday told six prelates newly elevated to the rank of cardinal that all Catholic leaders should shun the "worldly logic of power" and stick to spreading the gospel. The pope presided at a solemn mass in St Peter's Basilica with the six men from the United States, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Lebanon and Colombia the day after they became cardinals at a ceremony known as a consistory. ... Full Story | Top |
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