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| U.N. Security Council to discuss peacekeepers for Mali Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:18 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council will soon begin discussing a possible United Nations peacekeeping force for Mali, an idea the world body had been uncomfortable with before France's recent military intervention, envoys said on Wednesday. Last month, the 15-nation council approved an African-led force for Mali that likely would have been funded with voluntary contributions from U.N. member states and trained by the European Union. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez gets passport, will travel Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:16 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's best-known dissident, blogger Yoani Sanchez, received a passport on Wednesday under the island's new, freer travel law and said she would go abroad soon, after years of being denied that right. Sanchez' case was viewed as a test of the Cuban government's commitment to free travel, but the news was not as good for Angel Moya, another dissident who, Sanchez said, was denied a passport. "Incredible! They called to my house to tell me that my passport was ready. They just delivered it to me," Sanchez wrote on Twitter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hamas plans more "enemy language" Hebrew in Gaza schools Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 05:40 PM PST GAZA (Reuters) - Islamist Hamas authorities plan to expand Hebrew-language classes in the Gaza Strip's high schools to help Palestinians know their enemy in times of conflict with Israel. Far from a sign that peace will soon break out, Hamas's promotion of Hebrew learning in the Israeli-blockaded Mediterranean enclave aims to make linguistic skill a useful new front in the struggle against the Jewish state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Iran crude oil exports rise to highest since EU sanctions Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 05:35 PM PST  GENEVA/DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's crude oil exports in December leapt to their highest level since European Union sanctions took effect last July, analysts and shipping sources said, as strong Chinese demand and tanker fleet expansion helped the OPEC member dodge sanctions. Exports rose to around 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, according to two industry sources and shipping and customs data compiled by Reuters on a country-by-country basis and corroborated by other sources and consultants. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bulk of Timbuktu manuscripts survived occupation Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 04:39 PM PST DAKAR (Reuters) - The majority of Timbuktu's ancient manuscripts appear to be safe and undamaged after the Saharan city's 10-month occupation by Islamist rebel fighters, experts said on Wednesday, rejecting some media reports of their widespread destruction. Denying accounts that told of tens of thousands of priceless papers being burned or stolen by the fleeing rebels, they said the bulk of the Timbuktu texts had been safely hidden well before the city's liberation by French forces on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Magnitude 6.8 quake shakes Chile, but no serious damage Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 03:50 PM PST SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A strong magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit central-northern Chile on Wednesday, shaking buildings as far away as the capital Santiago, and possibly leading a woman to die minutes later of an apparent heart attack, the U.S. Geological Survey and local officials said. There were no reports of serious damage. The quake, initially reported as a magnitude 6.7, struck at a depth of 28.4 miles, 63 miles southwest of the mining town Copiapo and 364 miles north of Santiago at 5:15 p.m. (2015 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey said. ... Full Story | Top |
| City officials probed for negligence in Brazil nightclub fire Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 03:46 PM PST  SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Prosecutors in southern Brazil, where 235 people died when a fire ravaged a nightclub in Santa Maria last weekend, are investigating whether city leaders and inspectors were negligent in allowing the club to operate. The investigation, which is separate from a criminal probe into the causes of the tragedy, comes after police said the club's sole exit was partially blocked and that fire extinguishers and emergency exit lights weren't working. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's narrow focus on oil in South Sudan won't work: U.S. envoy Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 03:38 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China needs to move beyond a narrow focus on oil issues in South Sudan and help tackle that country's larger political disputes with Sudan, the outgoing U.S. special envoy to the two African states said on Wednesday. Ambassador Princeton Lyman said he had worked closely with Chinese officials more than two years, during which time South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 to become the world's newest nation. ... Full Story | Top |
| NATO chief to warn defense cuts could endanger alliance's power Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 03:14 PM PST  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO's military power and global influence could be put at risk if allies continue to slash their defense budgets while emerging powers boost theirs, NATO's chief will warn on Thursday. Anders Fogh Rasmussen is also expected to warn in his annual report, due out later on Thursday, that too deep defense cuts could worsen the West's economic crisis by weakening defense industries that are key drivers of innovation, jobs and exports. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel hits Syria arms convoy to Lebanon: sources Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 03:11 PM PST BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes bombed a convoy near Syria's border with Lebanon, sources told Reuters, apparently targeting weapons destined for Hezbollah in what some called a warning to Damascus not to arm Israel's Lebanese enemy. Syrian state television accused Israel of bombing a military research center at Jamraya, between Damascus and the nearby border, but Syrian rebels disputed that, saying their forces had attacked the site. No source spoke of a second Israeli strike. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council to discuss peacekeepers for Mali: envoys Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 02:57 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council will soon begin discussing a possible United Nations peacekeeping force for Mali, an idea the world body had been uncomfortable with before France's recent military intervention, envoys said on Wednesday. Last month, the 15-nation council approved an African-led force for Mali that likely would have been funded through voluntary contributions and trained by the European Union. It would not have begun operations against Islamist militants that took control of northern Mali last year until late in 2013. ... Full Story | Top |
| French troops deployed in last Mali rebel strongholds Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 02:15 PM PST  DOUENTZA, Mali/PARIS (Reuters) - French troops seized the airport in Mali's northern town of Kidal, the last urban stronghold held by Islamist insurgents, as they moved to wrap up the first phase of a military operation to wrest northern Mali from rebel hands. France has deployed some 4,500 troops in a three-week ground and air offensive to break the Islamist rebels' 10-month grip on major northern towns. The mission is aimed at heading off the risk of Mali being used as a springboard for jihadist attacks in the wider region or Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| OLRTXT SECUR ISLM POL REL DIP AID INSURG ML FR US WEU EMRG ZA Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 12:20 PM PST Bulk of Timbuktu manuscripts survived occupation DAKAR (Reuters) - The majority of Timbuktu's ancient manuscripts appear to be safe and undamaged after the Saharan city's 10-month occupation by Islamist rebel fighters, experts said on Wednesday, rejecting some media reports of their widespread destruction. Denying accounts that told of tens of thousands of priceless papers being burned or stolen by the fleeing rebels, they said the bulk of the Timbuktu texts had been safely hidden well before the city's liberation by French forces on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says Israel attacked military research center Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:51 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes attacked a military research center in Damascus province at dawn on Wednesday, Syria's military command said, denying reports that the planes had struck a convoy carrying weapons from Syria to Lebanon. Two people were killed and five wounded in the attack on the site in Jamraya, which it described as one of a number of "scientific research centers aimed at raising the level of resistance and self-defense". The building was destroyed, the military command said in a statement carried by state media. ... Full Story | Top |
| Peres seen asking Netanyahu to form Israel government Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:42 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres began talks with political parties on Wednesday over who should form a new government and appears certain to ask incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assemble it. The formal consultation procedure to nominate a lawmaker to form a government, the president's only important executive power, began after Peres was presented with the official results from last week's parliamentary election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: For Brazil's president, deadly fire highlights larger cause Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:41 AM PST  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - For a gruff, no-nonsense technocrat known for intimidating even her closest aides, the tears rolling down President Dilma Rousseff's face were especially striking. After receiving a phone call at 7 a.m. on Sunday notifying her of a nightclub fire that killed 235 people in southern Brazil, Rousseff cut short a visit to Chile and was on the scene by midday. One photo showed her in a Santa Maria gym that had been turned into a makeshift morgue, cradling the head of a victim's mother with both hands as the two women cried. ... Full Story | Top |
| FARC rebels vow to keep capturing Colombian security forces Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:31 AM PST BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC guerrillas have vowed to continue capturing security forces while the government on Wednesday asked rebels to make it clear they are not wasting time at peace talks in Cuba and genuinely want to end the five-decade conflict. President Juan Manuel Santos' government and Marxist guerrillas have been locked in peace negotiations in Cuba since November to try to reach a negotiated settlement to a war that has defied all past attempts for resolution. The discussions are set to resume on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia scraps law enforcement deal with U.S. in new blow to ties Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:24 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia scrapped a law enforcement agreement with the United States on Wednesday, further turning back the clock on a "reset" in relations since President Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin last year. An order to end the deal, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, was posted on the government's website. It said the agreement, under which Washington provided financial assistance for law enforcement and drugs control programs, "does not address current realities and has exhausted its potential". ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt curfew scaled back as Mursi seeks end to bloodshed Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:16 AM PST  CAIRO/BERLIN (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities scaled back a curfew imposed by President Mohamed Mursi, and the Islamist leader cut short a visit to Europe on Wednesday to deal with the deadliest violence in the seven months since he took power. Two more protesters were shot dead before dawn near Cairo's central Tahrir Square on Wednesday, a day after the army chief warned that the state was on the brink of collapse if Mursi's opponents and supporters did not end street battles. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian court orders Pussy Riot videos be banned from Internet Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 10:58 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian punk rockers Pussy Riot on Wednesday lost an appeal against an Internet ban on their music videos, including one showing a protest song for which three band members were jailed. A Moscow City Court upheld a lower court's November decision deeming the videos "extremist". Wednesday's ruling that meant that four Pussy Riot videos were banned from the web. The videos were still available on sites hosted outside Russia, including the Google-owned YouTube. The court rejected an appeal by one band member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, who said the ban violated freedom of speech. ... Full Story | Top |
| European police arrest 103 in biggest raid on migrant smugglers Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 10:00 AM PST BUDAPEST (Reuters) - European police on Tuesday simultaneously arrested more than 100 people in 10 countries in what they called the biggest raid on a migrant smuggling ring in the history of the European Union. The traffickers, based in Kosovo with links to the Turkish underworld, specialized in bringing migrants from the Middle East, especially Libya, Syria and Iraq, to Europe for thousands of euros per head, police told a news conference in Hungary on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani girl shot by Taliban to have skull reconstructed Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 09:35 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' education is to return to a specialist hospital in Britain for surgery to reconstruct her skull. Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot in October and brought to Britain for treatment, was discharged from the hospital earlier this month to spend time with her family after her initial treatment phase. ... Full Story | Top |
| Threat of ethnic reprisals stalks liberated Mali towns Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 09:24 AM PST KONNA, Mali (Reuters) - Omar Sangare surveyed the wreckage in his hometown of Konna in central Mali, ravaged by battles between the army and Islamist rebels, and vowed his days of living peacefully with Arabs and Tuaregs were over. "They are traitors," said Sangare, a member of Mali's black African majority, examining the rubble of a military base. "We saw our former neighbors, people who used to live here and run shops, among the attackers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Erdogan says can seek referendum on Turkey constitution if no deal Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 09:22 AM PST  ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he will take proposed constitutional reforms, expected to include the creation of an executive presidency, directly to parliament and if necessary to the people if no deal can be reached by April. A cross-party parliamentary commission drafting a new constitution had been expected to finish its work by the start of this year but has failed to reach a consensus. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek protesters occupy ministry office, clash with police Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 08:46 AM PST  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek anti-austerity protesters stormed the office of the labor minister on Wednesday and clashed with police after 30 demonstrators were arrested. The scuffles erupted after police detained members of the Communist-affiliated PAME group who had forced their way into the ministry and occupied Labour Minister Yannis Vroutsis's office for about two hours. ... Full Story | Top |
| Donors meet target of $1.5 billion aid for stricken Syrians: U.N. Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 08:35 AM PST  KUWAIT (Reuters) - Donor countries have pledged more than $1.5 billion to aid Syrians stricken by civil war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday after warning that the conflict had wrought a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. In a pointed message for Syria's leader, Ban told a fund-raising conference that President Bashar al-Assad bore primary responsibility to stop his country's suffering after nearly two years of conflict that have cost an estimated 60,000 lives. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Rising Syrian death toll, refugee wave Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 08:27 AM PST (Reuters) - Here is a look at the rising human cost of Syria's civil war as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon announced on Wednesday that international donors had pledged more than $1.5 billion to aid displaced Syrians, meeting a U.N. target. DEATH TOLL IN SYRIA - The United Nations said earlier this month that more than 60,000 people had been killed during the 22-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. This figure was based on 59,648 individuals reported killed in Syria between March 15, 2011 and November 30, 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish commander confirms resignation in protest over jailings Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 08:16 AM PST ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's number-two naval commander said he had resigned in protest over the "shameful" jailing of hundreds of colleagues on coup plot charges, fearing he would be the next victim. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government has detained several hundred serving and retired officers over the past few years, including as much as one fifth of Turkey's top military chiefs, on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Erdogan to seek referendum on Turkey constitution if no deal Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 08:16 AM PST ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he would seek a referendum on changes to the constitution, expected to include the creation of an executive presidency, if no deal is reached with the opposition within two months. Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics since his AK Party first came to power in 2002, is widely viewed as wanting to become the head of state in a newly constituted executive presidency at elections due next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran seeks help to rescue gas rig from seabed: Mehr Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 08:10 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has called for foreign help to recover a $40 million gas platform from the Gulf seabed, its Mehr news agency reported, in a rare request by an industry isolated by sanctions. The South Pars project to develop Iran's part of the world's largest gas field has been hampered by a withdrawal of international energy companies, under pressure from U.S. and European governments, and difficulties in acquiring technology due to sanctions on trade. The platform's huge metal support jacket plunged 80 meters below the surface after a crane broke during installation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nepal PM calls May election to defuse mounting crisis Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 08:03 AM PST KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoist Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai promised on Wednesday to hold delayed elections in May, raising hopes for an end to a political stalemate that has crippled the Himalayan republic still emerging from a decade-long civil war. A former rebel leader, Bhattarai announced the polls to a rally of 10,000 cheering, flag-waving supporters in the heart of the Nepali capital. It was a show of strength after weeks of violent street protests by opposition parties demanding the prime minister's resignation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad must heed cries of Syrian people: U.N.'s Ban Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:44 AM PST KUWAIT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has a primary responsibility to stop the suffering of his country's people and should listen to their cries, the head of the United Nations said on Wednesday. "We cannot go on like this. What is more important is that the primary responsibility rests with the Syrian government, with President Assad, he should listen to the voices and cries of so many people," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said after a donor conference in Kuwait. (Reporting by Sylvia Westall.. Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.) Full Story | Top |
| Hamas allows Gaza voter registration in step to heal Palestinian split Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:33 AM PST  GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian officials will begin registering voters in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip next month to pave the way for elections aimed at healing a nearly six-year split between Palestinian factions. Hamas had barred the Palestinian Central Election Commission from Gaza, a territory it seized from the Fatah movement in a brief 2007 civil war, accusing the body of bias in favor of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority which rules the West Bank. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi says sees Egypt economy growing 5.5 percent in 2014 Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:28 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi said during a visit to Germany on Wednesday that he hoped for economic growth of 5.5 percent next year and of between 7 and 8 percent in subsequent years. Mursi, whose one-day visit to Berlin is aimed partly at reassuring Western investors about economic prospects for his crisis-racked country, also said he saw around 750,000 new jobs being created in Egypt on an annual basis. The World Bank recently forecast economic growth in Egypt of 2.6 percent this year and of 3.8 percent in 2014, rising to 4.7 percent in 2015. ... Full Story | Top |
| Monitoring agency "confident" it will detect North Korea atomic test Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:26 AM PST VIENNA (Reuters) - The international agency that monitors nuclear tests said on Wednesday it would have no trouble detecting the seismological activity around any nuclear test by North Korea "within minutes" but it could take at least several days to confirm whether it was an atomic explosion. North Korea, which detonated nuclear explosions in 2006 and 2009, vowed last week to conduct more rocket and nuclear tests after the U.N. Security Council censured it for a December long-range missile launch. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea launches first civilian rocket amid tensions with North Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:26 AM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea launched its first space rocket carrying a science satellite on Wednesday amid heightened regional tensions, caused in part, by North Korea's successful launch of its own rocket last month. It was South Korea's third attempt to launch a civilian rocket to send a satellite in orbit in the past four years and came after two previous launches were aborted at the eleventh hour last year due to technical glitches. ... Full Story | Top |
| Donors raise $1.5 billion for displaced Syrians: U.N. Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:22 AM PST KUWAIT (Reuters) - Donor countries have pledged more than $1.5 billion for Syrians displaced by nearly two years of fighting, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, after a donor conference in Kuwait. Ban told the final session of the one-day conference that the meeting has "reached its target" of $1 billion of aid for Syria's neighbors hosting refugees and another $500 million to fund humanitarian work for 4 million Syrians afflicted by the civil war inside the country. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi) Full Story | Top |
| Israel to give Palestinians $100 million in withheld funds Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:20 AM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's administration around $100 million in tax revenues that had been withheld in retaliation for his statehood bid in the United Nations, Israeli officials said on Wednesday. The sum is roughly a third of the funds Israel is meant to have transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) since November under interim peace accords, but has instead kept. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Egypt is once again risking its future Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:17 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - With violence sweeping Egypt's cities and the economy lurching deeper into crisis, each passing day is adding new bricks to a wall of mistrust between the Islamist-led government of President Mohamed Mursi and a fractured secular opposition. Two years after the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak, Egypt, the epicenter of the upheavals reshaping the Arab world, is once again gambling with its future. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bahraini princess on trial for torturing detainees: official Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:12 AM PST ABU DHABI (Reuters) - A Bahraini princess who works as a police officer is on trial for torturing two doctors while they were in detention during political unrest in the Gulf Arab kingdom in 2011, according to a senior official at Bahrain's Public Prosecutor's office. Sheikha Noura bint Ibrahim al-Khalifa is also facing a separate trial for physically assaulting Aayat al-Qormozi, a young female Shi'ite opposition activist, while she was in detention during the same period, Nawaf Hamza, head of the Public Prosecution's Special Investigation Unit, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
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