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| Japan candidates hit streets in first national vote since Fukushima disaster Monday, Dec 03, 2012 07:39 PM PST  FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Candidates hit the streets on Tuesday at the official start of a campaign for a parliamentary election that is expected to return the opposition Liberal Democrats to power but risks furthering the policy stalemate plaguing the world's third-biggest economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Parties contesting Japan's December 16 election Monday, Dec 03, 2012 06:57 PM PST (Reuters) - Japan holds an election for parliament's lower house on December 16, with opinion polls suggesting that the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will return to power after three years in opposition. Below are some key facts about Japan's political parties. (For a graphic charting voter preferences among major parties, click on: http://link.reuters.com/xyc34t) DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JAPAN (DPJ) Established: 1998 Website: http://www.dpj.or. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indian navy ready to deploy to South China Sea as tensions climb Monday, Dec 03, 2012 06:16 PM PST HANOI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has declared itself ready to deploy naval vessels to the South China Sea to protect its oil-exploration interests there, a potential new escalation of tensions in a disputed area where fears of armed conflict have been growing steadily. India's naval chief made the statement on Monday just as Vietnam's state oil and gas company, Petrovietnam, accused Chinese boats of sabotaging an exploration operation by cutting a seismic cable being towed behind a Vietnamese vessel. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. intensifies criticism of Israel on settlement plan Monday, Dec 03, 2012 06:11 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday ratcheted up criticism of Israel over plans to expand Jewish settlement building on occupied land, urging it to reconsider despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to back down. The Obama administration's tougher-than-usual words for close ally Israel came after five European governments summoned Israeli ambassadors in their capitals to express concern over the new settlement projects. But Washington stopped short of threatening any concrete measures against the Jewish state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel arrests settlers suspected of West Bank attacks Monday, Dec 03, 2012 06:11 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police arrested three Jewish settlers on Monday whom they suspect of arson and other attacks on Palestinian property in the occupied West Bank. At a time of heightened diplomatic tension over claims to the land, the men were found carrying fuel and spikes shortly after a car was torched in a Palestinian village near Hebron. A police spokesman said they had appeared to be about to conduct a second attack in another village nearby when they were detained. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel says will stick with settlement plan despite condemnation Monday, Dec 03, 2012 06:11 PM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel rejected concerted criticism from the United States and Europe on Monday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlement building after the United Nations' de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood. Washington urged Israel to reconsider its plan to erect 3,000 more homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying the move hindered peace efforts with the Palestinians. Britain, France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark summoned the Israeli ambassadors in their capitals to give similar messages. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blind China dissident urges Xi follow Myanmar path to reform Monday, Dec 03, 2012 05:36 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has urged Communist Party chief and president-in-waiting Xi Jinping to follow Myanmar's model of reform or risk a violent political transition. Chen also accused the government of breaking a promise to investigate what he says is the persecution of his family, according to a recorded message posted on YouTube by Texas-based Christian advocacy group ChinaAid, which backs him. The self-taught legal advocate's escape from house arrest in April and subsequent refuge in the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two Mexican men charged in death of Coast Guard officer Monday, Dec 03, 2012 05:25 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two Mexican nationals were charged on Monday in the death of a U.S. Coast Guard petty officer who was thrown from his search vessel when it was rammed by a suspected drug-smuggling boat off the California coast. Jose Meija-Leyva and Manuel Beltran-Higuera were each charged in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles with killing an officer of the United States, U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said. Meija-Leyva and Beltran-Higuera were both ordered held without bond during a brief court appearance on Monday afternoon, Mrozek said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt judicial council to oversee referendum Monday, Dec 03, 2012 05:15 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council has cleared the way for a referendum on a new constitution which President Mohamed Mursi hopes will end a political crisis that has split the country. Some judges had called for their colleagues to shun the December 15 plebiscite, which must be supervised by the judiciary like all elections in Egypt. But the council's decision suggests enough officials can be mobilized to oversee the vote. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama urges Russia to work with U.S. to extend arms pact Monday, Dec 03, 2012 04:11 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Russia on Tuesday to work with the United States to "update" a decades-old agreement on dismantling nuclear and chemicals weapons that is set to expire in mid-2013. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in October that Moscow intended to end the 1992 agreement, the latest sign that the much-vaunted "reset" in relations between the Cold War-era foes may be running out of steam. ... Full Story | Top |
| South African women rights at risk as Zuma woos tribal chiefs Monday, Dec 03, 2012 04:05 PM PST AMAHLUBI, South Africa, Dec 4 (TrustLaw) - Pregnant and bereaved, Thandiwe Zondi considered killing herself and her five daughters when she was evicted from her marital home. Under customary Zulu law, only males can inherit land. But Zondi had borne no sons when her husband, a chief, died of natural causes, so his successor moved into her house and turfed the family out. She appealed to a traditional court of tribal leaders - but they sided with the new chief. ... Full Story | Top |
| Trafficked maids to order: The darker side of richer India Monday, Dec 03, 2012 04:03 PM PST NEW DELHI, Dec 4 (TrustLaw) - Inside the crumbling housing estates of Shivaji Enclave, amid the boys playing cricket and housewives chatting from their balconies, winding staircases lead to places where lies a darker side to India's economic boom. Three months ago, police rescued Theresa Kerketa from one of these tiny two-roomed flats. For four years, she was kept here by a placement agency for domestic maids, in between stints as a virtual slave to Delhi's middle-class homes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Child servants a blot on Haiti's abolitionist past Monday, Dec 03, 2012 04:02 PM PST PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 4 (TrustLaw) - Dayana Denois was always the last to go to bed and the first to wake up. By dawn, she had washed the dishes and clothes, cleaned and swept the floor and emptied the chamber pots. "I didn't know what resting meant. Even when I was sick, I'd never get a break," Denois said, recalling the years she spent living with her aunt in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince. "She didn't care if I was tired or not. She kept telling me to do things. She beat me with electric cables, shouted at me, punched and slapped me on the face," the 12-year-old said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo back in charge of Goma, U.N. fingers Rwanda again Monday, Dec 03, 2012 03:47 PM PST  GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Congo's government re-established control over the eastern city of Goma on Monday after rebels withdrew, and U.N. experts made new allegations that Rwandan soldiers took part in the insurgents' capture of the city. The M23 rebel movement pulled its fighters out of the North Kivu provincial capital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Saturday after seizing it from fleeing U.N.-backed government forces and holding it for 11 days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian opposition celebrity warns against revolution Monday, Dec 03, 2012 03:47 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Socialite-turned-Kremlin-critic Ksenia Sobchak told Russian dissidents in London on Monday that growing repression at home would prompt more and more people to fight for change but warned that a full-blown revolution could destroy her country. Once an apolitical tabloid celebrity and a Playboy cover girl, Sobchak has emerged as an unlikely but fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin in the past year, taking on a man who was once a close political ally and friend of her late father. ... Full Story | Top |
| Riot erupts in Belfast over removal of British flag Monday, Dec 03, 2012 03:36 PM PST  BELFAST (Reuters) - At least five police officers were wounded during a riot at Belfast city hall in Northern Ireland on Monday after Irish nationalist councilors voted to remove the British flag from the building on all but 17 days of the year. Hundreds of protesters, many carrying British flags, clashed with police after nationalist councilors from Sinn Fein and the SDLP voted to take down the flag which has flown above the city hall every day since the building was opened in 1906. An attempt to storm the building was repelled by police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian spokesman flees country, diplomat says Monday, Dec 03, 2012 03:19 PM PST CAIRO/BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, who was the most public face of Bashar al-Assad's government as it battled a 20-month-old uprising, has fled the country, a diplomat in the region said on Monday. Jihad al-Makdissi, who is in his 40s, previously worked at the Syrian embassy in London and returned to Damascus a year ago to serve as spokesman for the ministry, defending the government's crackdown on the revolt against Assad's rule. He had little influence in a system largely run by the security apparatus and the military. ... Full Story | Top |
| NATO to agree to send Patriots to Turkey: diplomats Monday, Dec 03, 2012 03:18 PM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO foreign ministers will agree on Tuesday to send Patriot missiles to beef up Turkey's air defenses and calm Turkey's fears that it could come under missile attack, possibly with chemical weapons, from Syria, diplomats said. Turkey last month asked NATO for Patriots, which can be used to intercept missiles and planes, after weeks of talks with allies about how to shore up security on its 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria, which is immersed in civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fight against al Shabaab instructive model for future: U.S. general Monday, Dec 03, 2012 03:09 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The African Union war against al Shabaab in Somalia this past year has left the Islamist group "largely in a survival mode" and is instructive for confronting the region's extremist groups in the future, the head of U.S. Africa Command said on Monday. General Carter Ham, who is responsible for U.S. military ties with Africa, told a forum at George Washington University he was concerned about growing cooperation among Islamist extremist factions across the region. But he also said Washington favored "African solutions for African problems. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama warns Syria's Assad against use of chemical weapons Monday, Dec 03, 2012 03:03 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama issued a warning to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday not to use chemical weapons against Syrian opposition forces, saying there would be consequences if he were to do so. "I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command: The world is watching," Obama said in a speech to a gathering of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons proliferation experts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel to launch campaign with upbeat party congress Monday, Dec 03, 2012 03:02 PM PST  HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - Angela Merkel kicks off her re-election drive on Tuesday at a congress of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), where the chancellor will be feted like a star for defending German interests in the euro zone crisis. At the peak of her popularity, with approval ratings close to 70 percent, Merkel appears to have a good shot at winning a third term next year despite a precipitous slide in support for her current coalition partner, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP). ... Full Story | Top |
| Chavez will travel to Brazil for summit: ambassador Monday, Dec 03, 2012 02:57 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez will travel to Brazil for a regional summit at the end of this week despite cancer-related medical treatment in Cuba, Brazil's ambassador said on Monday. If confirmed, the 58-year-old Chavez's presence at the Mercosur trade bloc meeting would indicate his latest health scare is not as bad as some are speculating. Venezuelan officials would not immediately confirm the ambassador's statement. Chavez was in Cuba on Monday and it was unknown if he would return home first if he should decide to go on to Brazil. ... Full Story | Top |
| Slovenia police clash with anti-graft protesters Monday, Dec 03, 2012 01:40 PM PST  LJUBLJANA/MARIBOR, Slovenia (Reuters) - At least 12 people were injured when police clashed with protesters in Slovenia's second city Maribor on Monday, in the latest of a series of rallies against budget cuts and graft in the financially-troubled Alpine state. officers said more than 40 people were arrested after some members of the crowd of around 6,000 threw firecrackers, fireworks and rocks. Protesters demanded the resignation of the Mayor Franc Kangler who has been accused of corruption. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK summons Argentine envoy over Falklands "intimidation" Monday, Dec 03, 2012 01:34 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Britain summoned Argentina's ambassador to London on Monday after masked men ransacked the offices of a shipping company in Buenos Aires, a move the Foreign Office alleged was aimed at deterring ships from visiting the disputed Falkland Islands. The Foreign Office said the shipping firm, agents for a cruise company, had been attacked on November 19, causing the cancellation of a planned visit to the islands some 300 miles off Argentina's coast. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia, China urge North Korea to drop rocket launch plan Monday, Dec 03, 2012 01:00 PM PST MOSCOW/BEIJING (Reuters) - Russia and China urged North Korea on Monday not to go ahead with a plan for its second rocket launch of 2012, with Moscow saying any such move would violate restrictions imposed by the U.N. Security Council. North Korea's state news agency on Saturday announced the decision to launch another space satellite and reportedly told neighbors it would take a path similar to that planned for a failed rocket launch in April. "We urgently appeal to the government (of North Korea) to reconsider the decision to launch a rocket," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a ... Full Story | Top |
| Violent mass protest continue in Slovenia Monday, Dec 03, 2012 12:08 PM PST  LJUBLJANA/MARIBOR, Slovenia (Reuters) - Protesters clashed with police in Slovenia's second largest city Maribor on Monday in a demonstration against budget cuts in the financially troubled Alpine state. Police said more than 20 people were arrested in Maribor and at least one policeman was injured after some from a crowd of around 6,000 protesters threw firecrackers, fireworks and rocks. Protesters were demanding the resignation of the Mayor Franc Kangler who has been accused of corruption. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia suspect in Benghazi case refuses to talk to FBI: lawyer Monday, Dec 03, 2012 11:49 AM PST TUNIS (Reuters) - A Tunisian man suspected of being involved with the September 11 attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya has refused to be interviewed by FBI investigators, his lawyer said on Monday. Ali Ani al-Harzi, jailed and under investigation in Tunisia over the attack having been deported from Turkey, said he would not see the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents alone, Anouar Aouled told Reuters. Harzi was one of two Tunisians named in October by the Daily Beast website as having been detained in Turkey over the attacks in Benghazi in which Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Murdoch keeps News Corp name, Thomson becomes publishing CEO Monday, Dec 03, 2012 11:25 AM PST  (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch tapped Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson, a close confidant with little experience on the business side of publishing, as Chief Executive of his new publishing company, which will retain the News Corp name. Thomson's appointment coincided with several other announcements related to the impending publishing company spin-off, including the closing of The Daily, the heavily-hyped digital newspaper for Apple Inc's iPad, and the naming of other key executives. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK's Prince William and wife Kate expecting a baby Monday, Dec 03, 2012 11:23 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine are expecting a baby, destined to be the country's future monarch, although the mother-to-be is in hospital with a type of very acute morning sickness that sometimes indicates twins. "Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby," the prince's office said in a statement on Monday, adding that Queen Elizabeth and the royal family were delighted. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU says cuts Damascus activities because of security situation Monday, Dec 03, 2012 11:21 AM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's office in Damascus is cutting back its activities in the Syrian capital to a minimum because of the security situation, an EU official said on Monday. "The EU delegation has decided to reduce activities in Damascus to a minimum level due to the current security conditions," a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in response to a question from Reuters. The EU diplomatic service has an office in Damascus that has remained open throughout the Syrian crisis so far. (Reporting by Sebastian Moffett; editing by Rex Merrifield) Full Story | Top |
| Sri Lankan judiciary wants impartial inquiry of chief justice Monday, Dec 03, 2012 11:20 AM PST COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's judges on Monday demanded an impartial inquiry into charges against the chief justice that have created a standoff between the judiciary and President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government. The government and the supreme court have been on a collision course since the president's ruling party filed an impeachment motion against Shirani Bandaranayake, Sri Lanka's first female head of the Supreme Court, on November 6. The government complained that she had been overstepping her authority but Bandaranayake's supporters complained of political interference. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. suspends Syria aid operations due to insecurity Monday, Dec 03, 2012 10:43 AM PST  GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Monday it was suspending its aid operations in Syria and withdrawing all non-essential international staff due to the worsening security situation. Up to 25 of about 100 foreign staff could leave this week, it said, adding that more armored vehicles were needed after attacks in recent weeks on humanitarian aid convoys and the hijacking of goods or vehicles. Some convoys had been caught in crossfire between Syrian government and rebel forces, including an incident near the airport in which two staff were injured, it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House urges Israel to reconsider settlement plan Monday, Dec 03, 2012 10:35 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States urged Israel on Monday to reconsider its plan to erect 3,000 more homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying the move was counterproductive to peace efforts with the Palestinians. Angered by the U.N. General Assembly's upgrading on Thursday of the Palestinians' status in the world body from "observer entity" to "non-member state," Israel said the next day it would build the new dwellings for settlers. ... Full Story | Top |
| France, Italy eye costly rail link despite EU budget row Monday, Dec 03, 2012 10:32 AM PST  LYON, France (Reuters) - The leaders of France and Italy pledged on Monday to push ahead with a high-speed rail link between Lyon and Turin despite a row over EU spending. With Britain leading calls to slash billions of euros from the European Union's 2014-2020 budget, French President Francois Hollande defended the rail link between southeast France and northwest Italy as essential to economic competitiveness. Italy is the second-largest market for French goods and the third-biggest importer to France but the Frejus rail tunnel linking the countries in the Alps was built in the 19th century. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia, Turkey agree to differ over Syria conflict Monday, Dec 03, 2012 10:15 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Russia and Turkey agreed to differ on Monday on strategies to end Syria's civil war, highlighting how distant the prospects of a negotiated solution to the 20-month-old conflict are. Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan during a one-day visit to Istanbul aimed partly at ensuring differences over Syria do not damage a deepening trade and energy relationship. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. repeats opposition to new Israeli settlements Monday, Dec 03, 2012 10:05 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday reiterated its opposition to new Israeli settlement activity on occupied land including in the site known as "E1", which it said could be especially damaging to efforts to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "The United States opposes all unilateral actions, including West Bank settlement activity and housing construction in East Jerusalem, as they complicate efforts to resume direct, bilateral negotiations," State Department spokeman Mark Toner said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. concerned about Syria's intentions on weapons: White House Monday, Dec 03, 2012 10:04 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States' concerns about Syria's intentions regarding use of chemical weapons is increasing, prompting Washington to prepare contingency plans, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday. Carney's comments came after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that the United States would take action if Syria used the weapons. Carney declined to say what the contingency plans involved. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott) Full Story | Top |
| Migrants in Greece held in shocking conditions: U.N. Monday, Dec 03, 2012 09:59 AM PST  ATHENS (Reuters) - Migrants in Greece face shocking conditions in detention centers and deepening hostility on the streets as the country goes through its worst economic crisis since World War Two, a top U.N. official said on Monday. Many of the 130,000 mostly African and Asian migrants trying to enter Europe via Greece each year go short of food, heating and hot water, including children, said the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Francois Crepeau. Conditions were poor in most of the 11 detention centers he visited. ... Full Story | Top |
| Peruvian coffee growers harvest dung for golden profits Monday, Dec 03, 2012 09:55 AM PST  LIMA (Reuters) - Jose Jorge Durand never thought he would end up harvesting dung for a living when war forced him from his home. Thirty years ago he fled to safety high in Peru's Andes mountains as a bloody leftist insurgency took root in the jungle where his family grew coffee. Having since returned home, Durand is now making one of the most expensive coffees in the world by picking arabica beans out of the dung of a long-nosed jungle critter called the coati, a tropical cousin of the raccoon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese factories grow again, but U.S. sector shrinks Monday, Dec 03, 2012 09:49 AM PST  NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Chinese manufacturing output grew last month for the first time in more than a year but a surprise contraction in U.S. factory activity tempered optimism about the health of the world economy on Monday. Business surveys also showed the euro zone's manufacturing sector shrank for a 16th straight month, though a little less rapidly than in October. A rise in HSBC's China manufacturing PMI to 50. ... Full Story | Top |
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