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| Two dead in Thai political violence, military bolsters security Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 08:12 PM PST  By Damir Sagolj BANGKOK (Reuters) - A "red shirt" Thai government supporter was shot and killed early on Sunday, raising the death toll to two from political violence in Bangkok as protesters intensified a week-long bid to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Police called in military back-up to protect government buildings after fatal street clashes erupted between supporters and opponents of Yingluck and her billionaire brother, ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, near a sports stadium where about 70,000 government supporters had gathered. The fighting is the latest in an intractable conflict that broadly pits Thailand's establishment of royalists, wealthy elites and the urban middle class against the poor supporters of Thaksin, who originate mostly from provinces north of Bangkok, the country's lowest-income regions. Full Story | Top |
| China's November factory growth clings to 18-month high Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 07:56 PM PST  China's factory growth held at an 18-month high in November on firm domestic and foreign demand, defying expectations the economy faces a modest slowdown as 2013 draws to a close. Investors had expected the PMI, one of the earliest pieces of Chinese data released each month, to show China's economy decelerated in the fourth quarter on slacker credit growth, fragile global demand, and slower restocking of inventories by firms. "The export order data suggests that global demand - key to the outlook for China's manufacturing - improved a bit." A sub-index for export orders nudged higher to 50.6 in November from 50.4 in October, hovering above the 50-point threshold separating growth from contraction. Experts will welcome the unexpected PMI strength as a sign that China can press on with sprawling plans outlined last month to cut back central economic planning without fear of endangering growth. Full Story | Top |
| India's Mars mission enters second stage; outpaces space rival China Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 07:50 PM PST  By Shyamantha Asokan NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's first mission to Mars left Earth's orbit in the early hours of Sunday, clearing a critical hurdle in its journey to the red planet and overtaking the recent efforts of rival Asian giant China. The success of the spacecraft, scheduled to orbit Mars by next September, would carry India into a small club of nations including the United States, Europe, and Russia, whose probes have orbited or landed on Mars. India's venture, called Mangalyaan, faces further hurdles still on its journey to Mars. "While Mangalyaan takes 1.2 billion dreams to Mars, we wish you sweet dreams!" India's space agency said in a tweet soon after the event, referring to the citizens of the world's second-most populous country. Full Story | Top |
| Global recovery still too weak, South Korea data shows Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 07:14 PM PST  By Choonsik Yoo SEOUL (Reuters) - Exports by industrial powerhouse South Korea showed virtually no growth last month, underlining a still fragile global economy squeezed by a depressed Europe as growth slows in emerging markets. Overseas shipments by the world's seventh-largest exporter rose just 0.2 percent in November from a year earlier in dollar value, government data showed on Sunday, smaller than a median gain of 2.8 percent tipped in a Reuters survey of 13 analysts. Growth of sales to China, the United States and the European Union all slowed whereas exports to Southeast Asia's 10-nation ASEAN bloc posted the worst decline since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, the data showed. "Some of the big economies, such as the United States, are recovering, but are not there yet to spur corporate investment for more production and boost global trade much," said Park Sang-hyun, economist at HI Investment & Securities in Seoul. Full Story | Top |
| Dominican government gives details of naturalization plan for 'foreigners' Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 06:33 PM PST  By Manuel Jimenez SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - The government announced details of a special naturalization process for undocumented "foreigners" and their children born in the Dominican Republic, in a presidential decree issued on Saturday. The decree was signed by President Danilo Medina following a controversial court ruling last September that could strip Dominican citizenship from hundreds of thousands of children born over the last 84 years to migrants deemed to be living in the country illegally. The Dominican government has come under intense international pressure over the September 23 ruling by the country's Constitutional Court. United Nations agencies, foreign leaders and human rights groups have all questioned its legitimacy, saying it could leave more than 200,000 Haitian migrants stateless, many of whom were born on Dominican soil decades ago. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. retail sales up at start of holiday season: data Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 04:55 PM PST  (Reuters) - U.S. shoppers visited more stores and spent more money at brick-and-mortar sites across Thanksgiving Day and "Black Friday" than they did in 2012 while online sales set records, data showed on Saturday. When compared with Thanksgiving on Thursday and "Black Friday" last year, research firm ShopperTrak estimated that traffic at brick-and-mortar stores increased 2.8 percent, to more than 1.07 billion store visits. Retail sales increased by 2.3 percent as shoppers spent an estimated total of $12.3 billion across the two days, ShopperTrak said in a statement. , which provides digital marketing tools, said its data showed record online sales for "Black Friday" and Thanksgiving at $1.93 billion and $1.062 billion, respectively. Full Story | Top |
| A jail by another name - China labor camps now drug detox centers Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 04:20 PM PST  By John Ruwitch KUNMING, China (Reuters) - Li Zhongying was freed from a Chinese labor camp ahead of schedule in September because, guards told her, the government was scrapping 're-education through labor', a heavily criticized penal system created in the 1950s. Many of China's re-education through labor camps, instead of being abolished in line with a ruling Communist Party announcement this month, are being turned into compulsory drug rehabilitation centers where inmates can be incarcerated for two years or more without trial. Human rights activists and freed inmates said drug offenders were still being forced to do factory work, as has been the practice under the re-education through labor system, colloquially known as 'laojiao'. New York-based Human Rights Watch estimates more than 60 percent of the 160,000 people in labor camps at the start of the year were there for drug offenses. Full Story | Top |
| Obamacare website enters critical phase, unclear if fixes are enough Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 04:00 PM PST  The rollout of President Barack Obama's healthcare law entered a critical phase on Saturday, the deadline for substantially fixing the program's troubled enrollment website, as the administration scrambled to address the most obvious glitches. The White House, facing mounting pressure from Republican opponents and members of Obama's Democratic party, promised five weeks ago that by November 30 it would repair HealthCare.gov. HealthCare.gov is a key portal for Obama's signature domestic achievement, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which aims to extend coverage to millions of people and reduce healthcare costs. Making Obamacare work has enormous political stakes for the administration and its Democratic allies who are heading into congressional elections next year. Full Story | Top |
| Eight dead as police helicopter crashes into Scottish pub Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 03:48 PM PST By Russell Cheyne GLASGOW, Scotland (Reuters) - Eight people were killed and 14 others seriously injured when a police helicopter crashed into the roof of a packed Glasgow pub, trapping many inside in choking dust and debris, Scottish police said on Saturday, Witnesses said the helicopter dropped from the sky like a stone onto the busy Clutha Pub in Scotland's biggest city on Friday night while more than 100 people were crammed inside, listening to a live music concert. The helicopter crew - two police officers and the civilian pilot - were among the dead and the others were discovered inside the wreckage of the building, Chief Constable of Police Scotland Stephen House told reporters. The 12-metre (40 foot) helicopter - a twin-engine Eurocopter EC135 T2, made by a subsidiary of EADS - spiraled into the pub in the center of Glasgow, destroying part of the roof. "Until the helicopter is out of the way we won't know what ... is going on underneath." Immediately after the crash, revelers caked in dust and blood rushed out into the street. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan promises to help Afghans meet former Taliban chief Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 03:46 PM PST  By Mirwais Harooni and Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promised Afghanistan on Saturday that he would help arrange further meetings between Afghan officials and a former Taliban commander as part of renewed efforts to revive a defunct peace process. Pakistan announced it would release the insurgent group's former second-in-command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in September. Afghan officials believe he still retains enough influence within the Taliban to help rekindle peace talks. In a first such meeting, an Afghan delegation travelled to Pakistan about 10 days ago to meet the former commander, who remains under the close supervision of his Pakistani minders. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. airlines give China flight plans for new defense zone Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 03:32 PM PST  By Marina Lopes and Lesley Wroughton NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. airlines United, American and Delta, have notified Chinese authorities of flight plans when traveling through an air defense zone Beijing has declared over the East China Sea, following U.S. government advice. The United States said on Friday it expected U.S. carriers to operate in line with so-called notices to airmen issued by foreign countries, although it added that the decision did "not indicate U.S. government acceptance of China's requirements. Airline industry officials said the U.S. government generally expects U.S. carriers operating internationally to comply with notices issued by foreign countries. In contrast, two major airlines in Japan, the United States' close ally, have agreed with the Japanese government that they would fly through the zone without notifying China. Full Story | Top |
| Hagel voices U.S. concern over new Egyptian law limiting protest Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 03:08 PM PST Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel telephoned his Egyptian counterpart on Saturday to voice U.S. concerns about a new Egyptian law that curbs protests and has prompted the arrest of a group of Egyptian girls and political activists, a spokesman said. Hagel, in a call to Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday morning, said the Egyptian government's approach to free speech would be seen as a demonstration of its "commitment to a non-violent, inclusive and sustainable democratic transition," Pentagon spokesman Carl Woog said in a statement. The U.S. defense chief is considered an important channel of communications with Egypt because of the close military ties between the two countries. The United States provides Egypt with about $1.55 billion in aid annually, most of it military assistance. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. calls on North Korea to release war veteran Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 02:06 PM PST  By Lesley Wroughton and Jack Kim WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States called on North Korea on Saturday to release an elderly U.S. military veteran held in custody since last month and who Pyongyang accused of killing civilians during the Korean War 60 years ago. Swedish embassy officials were granted access on Saturday to visit Merrill E. Newman, the State Department said, the first access by Western officials to him since his arrest. Newman, an 85-year old former special forces officer, was detained at the end of a trip to North Korea. "On November 30, the DPRK permitted the Embassy of Sweden, protecting power for issues involving U.S. citizens in North Korea, consular access to U.S. citizen Merrill Newman," a State Department official said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Swedish diplomats visit U.S. citizen detained in North Korea Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 01:51 PM PST Swedish diplomats in Pyongyang visited 85-year-old U.S. Korean War veteran Merrill Newman in custody on Saturday, the State Department said, the first access to him by Western officials since his arrest in late October. "The DPRK permitted the Embassy of Sweden, protecting power for issues involving U.S. citizens in North Korea, consular access to U.S. citizen Merrill Newman," a State Department official said in a statement. "Given Mr. Newman's advanced age and health conditions, we urge the DPRK to release Mr. Newman so he may return home and reunite with his family," the official added. Full Story | Top |
| Brazil's Rousseff improves odds of 2014 re-election: poll Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 01:30 PM PST  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has improved her odds of re-election since last month, while her potential rivals have lost ground, according to a Datafolha opinion poll published by Folha de S.Paulo newspaper on Saturday. Rousseff, a pragmatic leftist expected to seek a second term next October, won 47 percent support in the most widely expected matchup - up from 42 percent in last month's poll. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House urges North Korea to release U.S. citizen Newman Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 01:08 PM PST The White House urged North Korea on Saturday to release Merrill Newman, an 85-year-old U.S. veteran of the Korean War who has been held in North Korean custody since last month. "Given Mr. Newman's advanced age and health conditions, we urge the DPRK to release Mr. Newman so he may return home and reunite with his family," said Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council. The White House also urged North Korean authorities to release Kenneth Bae, an American who has been held in the country for more than a year. Full Story | Top |
| Russian activists ask IOC Bach to investigate gay law Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 12:44 PM PST  Gay rights activists on Saturday asked International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach to launch an independent investigation into the implications of Russian law during next year's Sochi Games, they said. Bach met Russian activists during his two-day visit to Paris, IOC and gay rights organization All Out told Reuters. "I can confirm a constructive meeting did take place," an IOC official said. The activists, who had flown from Moscow after others failed to meet Bach in Sochi earlier this month, raised their concerns over the law passed in June that bans "gay propaganda" among minors. Full Story | Top |
| Obama and daughters go big on books on Small Business Saturday Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 12:43 PM PST  By Elvina Nawaguna WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and his daughters, Sasha and Malia, went on what has become an annual book shopping spree on Saturday, stopping at a bookstore to promote an event called Small Business Saturday. They purchased about two dozen books, including "The Lowland," by Jhumpa Lahiri, "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe: Other stories" by Carson McCullers, "Red Sparrow" by Jason Matthews, and "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. "It's a long list," Obama said while paying, his daughters, aged 12 and 15, standing behind him. Full Story | Top |
| Arab Bedouins protest against Israeli plan to move them into towns Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 12:42 PM PST  By Noah Browning HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) - Hundreds of Bedouin Arabs and their supporters clashed with Israeli forces on Saturday in protests against a government plan to force 40,000 Bedouins living in the southern Negev region to leave their villages. The plan has not only angered the Bedouins but also spurred many other young Arab citizens of Israel to associate it with Israel's occupation of Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and so identify themselves more closely with demands for a Palestinian state. The historic heart of Haifa, Israel's northern port city on the Mediterranean, was brought to a standstill as hundreds of Israeli Arabs scuffled with scores of security forces. Police fired stun grenades and water cannon at the youths, who blocked a main thoroughfare and chanted: "With our souls and blood we will defend you, Palestine!" Over 1,000 demonstrated in the largest gathering, in Hura, in Israel's Negev Desert. Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic interim leader denies genocide threat Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 12:40 PM PST  By Joe Penney BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic transitional leader Michel Djotodia on Saturday denied European assertions that his country was on the brink of genocide and all-out inter-religious war. The impoverished but mineral-rich nation of 4.6 million has descended into chaos since Djotodia led Seleka rebels, many of them from neighboring Chad and Sudan, to the riverside capital in March, ousting President Francois Bozize. Though Djotodia has dissolved the rebel coalition, which has been accused of human rights abuses, his government's failure to stem the violence has prompted calls at the U.N. Security Council for international intervention to restore order. France is preparing to boost its force in its anarchic former colony to at least 1,000 soldiers once a U.N. resolution is passed next week to improve security until a 3,600-strong African Union (AU) force is operational. Full Story | Top |
| Unclear yet if crucial overhaul of Obamacare website a success Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 12:40 PM PST  Americans got their first look on Saturday at an overhaul of the troubled enrollment website at the heart of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, but it was unclear yet if the White House had made good on its pledge to fix the glitches. The Obama administration promised five weeks ago that by this weekend it would fix HealthCare.gov, the site designed to help people sign up for medical coverage but which has been plagued by errors, outages, and slow speeds since a disastrous October 1 launch. HealthCare.gov is a key portal for Obama's signature domestic achievement, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which aims to extend coverage to millions of people and reduce healthcare costs. Making Obamacare work has enormous political stakes for the administration and its Democratic allies who are heading into congressional elections next year. Full Story | Top |
| FIFPro tells Qatar to abolish kafala system for players Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 12:31 PM PST  (Reuters) - Qatar has been told by the world players' union FIFPro to abolish the kafala system for footballers and respect international standards for their contracts. The 2022 World Cup host nation also heard that it was essential to allow the establishment of a local players' union. "FIFPro has the attention of Qatar's leading football officials," said FIFPro delegate Mads Oland after meeting Hassan Al Thawadi, secretary general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, in Doha on Saturday. Full Story | Top |
| Olympics-Russian activists ask IOC Bach to investigate gay law Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 12:30 PM PST Gay rights activists on Saturday asked International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach to launch an independent investigation into the implications of Russian law during next year's Sochi Games, they said. Bach met Russian activists during his two-day visit to Paris, IOC and gay rights organisation All Out told Reuters. "I can confirm a constructive meeting did take place," an IOC official said. The activists, who had flown from Moscow after others failed to meet Bach in Sochi earlier this month, raised their concerns over the law passed in June that bans "gay propaganda" among minors. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine police smash pro-Europe protest, opposition to call strike Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 12:23 PM PST  By Richard Balmforth and Thomas Grove KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's political opposition said on Saturday it would call a general strike to force the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovich's government after police used batons and stun grenades to break up pro-Europe protests. Some 10,000 protesters regrouped in Kiev, flooding a square outside a church. Further rallies were planned for Sunday in the capital Kiev and other cities. Helmeted police stormed an encampment in Kiev's Independence Square where protesters were singing and warming themselves by campfires early in the morning, the opposition said. Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-FIFPro tells Qatar to abolish kafala system for players Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 11:58 AM PST Qatar has been told by the world players' union FIFPro to abolish the kafala system for footballers and respect international standards for their contracts. The 2022 World Cup host nation also heard that it was essential to allow the establishment of a local players' union. "FIFPro has the attention of Qatar's leading football officials," said FIFPro delegate Mads Oland after meeting Hassan Al Thawadi, secretary general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, in Doha on Saturday. Full Story | Top |
| Greece's ultra-right party holds rally in survival struggle Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 11:29 AM PST  About 1,000 supporters of Greece's Golden Dawn party gathered outside parliament on Saturday to protest against the pre-trial detention of their leader Nikolaos Mihaloliakos on charges of forming a criminal organization. Clad in black clothes, carrying torches and Greek flags, the ultra-right party's supporters shouted slogans such as "hands off Golden Dawn, don't jail nationalists" to the sound of Greek folk and marching songs. It was Golden Dawn's most high-profile public action since a government crackdown against it in September, following the killing of an anti-fascist rapper by one of its supporters. But the poor turnout of just a few hundred sympathizers showed Golden Dawn is still struggling to recover from the action of the authorities. Full Story | Top |
| Cameron 'turns page' on Dalai Lama row with China visit Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 10:43 AM PST  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has put a diplomatic rift with China over the Dalai Lama behind it and Prime Minister David Cameron has no plans to meet Tibet's spiritual leader again, a senior source in his office said ahead of a visit by the British leader to Beijing. Instead, Cameron will use a three-day visit to China next week, his first since the Dalai Lama rift, to focus on deepening trade ties with the world's second largest economy, taking with him a delegation of around 100 business people. We have turned a page on that issue," said the source when asked whether Cameron would raise the issue of Tibet during his trip. Cameron, who is likely to visit Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, had been expected to travel to China last autumn. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Yanukovich says he 'outraged' by violence in Kiev Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 10:43 AM PST Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich said on Saturday he was "deeply outraged" by incidents at a pro-Europe rally in the capital Kiev which had led to violent confrontation between protesters and police, and caused injury. Early on Saturday, riot police broke up a rally by protesters in Kiev using batons and stun grenades and an undisclosed number of people were injured. Full Story | Top |
| Indian magazine editor arrested on sexual assault charges Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 10:32 AM PST  By Krishna N Das NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Police arrested the editor-in-chief of an Indian magazine on Saturday over allegations that he had sexually assaulted a woman colleague, in a case that has turned the focus back on sexual violence after the fatal gang rape of a woman last year. The journalist told a superior that Tarun Tejpal, 50-year-old founder of the award-winning weekly Tehelka, had assaulted her twice in a hotel elevator during a conference in the resort state of Goa this month. The investigation into Tejpal, who denies the accusations, has dominated headlines in India for 10 days as news outlets follow every twist and turn, and follows similar accusations by an intern against a retired Supreme Court judge. "He (Tejpal) has formally been arrested and will be produced before a designated court within 24 hours," Dr. O.P. Mishra, Goa's deputy inspector general of police, told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. offers to destroy Syria's chemicals at sea: OPCW Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 09:52 AM PST  The United States has offered to destroy Syrian chemicals on a U.S. ship, the global chemical weapons watchdog said on Saturday, and is looking for a suitable Mediterranean port where processing can be carried out. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has been under pressure to find an alternative plan for the destruction of Syria's poison gas arsenal after Albania backed out of hosting the work. The OPCW said 35 firms had expressed an interest in bidding for commercial contracts by Friday's deadline for the treatment of about 800 tonnes (1 tonne = 1.102 metric tons) of bulk industrial chemicals that are safe to destroy in commercial incinerators. The OPCW said the operation would be carried out on a U.S. vessel at sea using hydrolysis, adding a naval vessel was undergoing modifications to support the operations. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian PM, visiting ally Iran, says government winning civil war Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 09:50 AM PST  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Prime Minister Wael Halki said on Saturday Syrian government forces were winning the war with rebels and would not rest while a single enemy fighter remained at large. Maintaining Syria's unyielding response to Western calls for President Bashar al-Assad to step aside, Halki said the era of "threats and intimidation has gone, never to return, while the era of victory and pride is being created now on Syrian soil". He was speaking during a visit to Iran, which has provided military support and billions of dollars in economic aid to Assad during a 2-1/2-year-old civil war which has killed 100,000 people and shows little sign of being halted by diplomacy. Assad, whose forces have consolidated their hold around Damascus and central Syria this year, faces little internal pressure to make concessions to his opponents as long as he maintains military momentum and Iranian support. Full Story | Top |
| Six killed in clashes in Lebanon's Tripoli Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 09:44 AM PST  By Nazih Siddiq TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - Six people were killed in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli on Saturday in exchanges of fire between neighborhoods which support rival sides in Syria's civil war, security and medical sources said. The dead - including a teenage schoolboy, a Palestinian and a Syrian - were from the Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tabbaneh district, whose residents overwhelmingly support the Sunni Muslim rebels battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Thirty-seven people, including nine soldiers, were wounded in the shooting between gunmen in Bab al-Tabbaneh and the adjacent Alawite neighborhood of Jebel Mohsen, which supports the Alawite Syrian leader. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a Sunni Muslim from Tripoli, held talks with the interior minister and other security officials in the Mediterranean city to discuss how to end the violence, which erupted despite the deployment of soldiers in both rival districts. Full Story | Top |
| At least one killed as Thai anti-government protests turn violent Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 09:39 AM PST  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Martin Petty BANGKOK (Reuters) - At least one person was shot dead and 10 were wounded after anti-government protesters clashed with supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Saturday, the first bloodshed in a week of demonstrations aimed at toppling her administration. Fighting intensified after anti-government protesters attacked a bus they believed was full of government "red shirt" supporters. As darkness fell, gunfire erupted outside a sports stadium in Bangkok's Ramkamhaeng area where about 70,000 red-shirted supporters of Yingluck and her brother, ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had gathered for a rally. A gunman fired into Ramkamhaeng University, where hundreds of anti-government protesters had retreated after trying to block people from entering the stadium, witnesses said. Full Story | Top |
| East African trade bloc approves monetary union deal Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 09:35 AM PST By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - The leaders of five East African countries signed a protocol on Saturday laying the groundwork for a monetary union within 10 years that they expect will expand regional trade. Heads of state of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, which have already signed a common market and a single customs union, say the protocol will allow them to progressively converge their currencies and increase commerce. In the run-up to achieving a common currency, the East African Community (EAC) nations aim to harmonize monetary and fiscal policies and establish a common central bank. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda already present their budgets simultaneously every June. Full Story | Top |
| Truck drivers block French roads in "ecotax" protest Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 09:34 AM PST  Several thousand truck drivers blocked roads across France on Saturday, causing severe disruption to traffic in protest against a new environmental tax on heavy goods vehicles. The protest is the latest effort to force the French government to cancel the so-called "ecotax" through which it aims to raise more than 1 billion euros ($1.38 billion) a year to finance mostly rail infrastructure projects. On the main highways, truck drivers let cars through but blocked foreign trucks, forcing them to stand idle on the side of the road. "Until this measure is cancelled, we will remain mobilized," said Vincent Tardet from the European Rail Transport Organisation (OTRE) which set up some 26 blockades on France's main road arteries. Full Story | Top |
| One killed, at least 10 wounded in Thai political violence - hospitals Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 08:19 AM PST One person was killed and at least 10 were wounded after violence flared near a Bangkok sports stadium hosting a rally by thousands of supporters of embattled Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, according to hospital staff. At least five people received gunshot wounds and five others were injured by knives or rocks, officials at the nearby Ramkamhaeng and the Dr Panya General Hospital told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's draft constitution enshrines army role in politics Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 07:49 AM PST  Egypt's new constitution, according to a draft text completed on Saturday nearly five months after the army deposed an Islamist president, will bolster the military's hand and ban religious parties. The constitution, expected to be put to a referendum in December, is part of an army-planned political transition meant to lead to parliamentary and presidential elections next year. "In the early hours of the morning the assembly (reached) an overall consensus over the constitution articles," its chairman, former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, told a news conference. The 50-member constituent assembly later began voting to approve the draft, article by article, and once this process is complete it will submit the document to interim President Adli Mansour, who will set a date for the referendum. Full Story | Top |
| Leading Egyptian activist turns himself in Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 07:14 AM PST  Ahmad Maher, a symbol of the popular uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, turned himself in to the authorities on Saturday after an order was issued for his arrest for defying a new law restricting demonstrations. The protest law, passed a week ago by the army-backed interim government, has provoked an outcry among rights groups. The army deposed elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi on July 3, following mass protests against his rule, and the country has seen widespread unrest since. On Thursday, police arrested activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, also known for his role in the anti-Mubarak uprising. Full Story | Top |
| Unforgotten fighter of Korean war: U.S. pensioner a POW at 85 Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 06:37 AM PST  By Ju-min Park and James Pearson SEOUL (Reuters) - As autumn descended on a Korean countryside devastated by three years of intense war, a group of anti-communist guerrillas presented U.S. serviceman Merrill Edward Newman with a gold ring. He returned to North Korea last month as an American tourist and was snatched by authorities from his plane moments before it was due to depart for Beijing. The North Korean regime has nourished memories of the 1950-53 Korean War as the inspiration for the country's identity and acts as if the conflict is still happening. No peace treaty was signed between the United States, South Korea and North Korea. Full Story | Top |
| S.Africans call online for Zuma's ouster after report on spending Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 05:54 AM PST  Thousands of South Africans on Saturday called online for the impeachment of President Jacob Zuma, after a newspaper revealed a government document detailing the use of public funds for lavish upgrades to his private home. The Mail and Guardian weekly said on Friday a provisional report by South Africa's top anti-corruption watchdog found Zuma had derived "substantial" personal gain from a $21 million "security upgrade" to his home, including a swimming pool and a cattle enclosure. The leaked document by the Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, entitled "Opulence on a Grand Scale", recommended that Zuma repay some of the public funds from the improvements to his compound at Nkandla in the hills of KwaZulu-Natal province. The report of Madonsela's investigation sparked outrage on social media, with prominent campaigner Zackie Achmat setting up an online petition calling for Zuma's ouster that had garnered 8,200 supporters a little over 24 hours after the news broke. Full Story | Top |
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