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| Cuba shutters private theaters, threatens other businesses Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 08:03 PM PDT By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba closed dozens of home-based movie theaters on Saturday and reaffirmed its plans to end the private sale of imported goods as communist authorities pressed for "order, discipline and obedience" in the growing small business sector. A government statement issued through official media said home-based theaters and video games will "stop immediately in any type of self employment," a local euphemism for small business. The statement said "the showing of movies, including in 3D salons, and likewise the organization of computer games, has never been authorized." The government banned the private sale of imported goods last month, a measure that potentially affects some 20,000 small businesses and their employees who sell clothing, hardware and other goods brought in informally by travelers, some of whom visit the Caribbean island regularly carrying merchandise from the United States, Spain and Latin American countries. President Raul Castro, who replaced his brother Fidel in 2008, has instituted a series of market-oriented reforms to Cuba's Soviet style economy where the state still employs 79 percent of the 5 million-strong labor force. Full Story | Top |
| Accused Los Angeles airport shooter could face death penalty Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 06:58 PM PDT  By Alex Dobuzinskis and Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The 23-year-old man accused of opening fire at Los Angeles International Airport, killing an airport security officer and wounding three other people, could face the death penalty after being charged with murder on Saturday, a federal prosecutor said. Paul Anthony Ciancia was charged with murder of a federal officer and committing violence at an international airport, U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte told reporters a day after the shooting that touched off panic and chaos at the world's sixth busiest airport. Ciancia carried a signed note that called Transportation Security Administration officers "traitorous" and he targeted them during his rampage at the airport's Terminal 3, FBI special agent in charge David Bowdich said. Ciancia was dropped off at the airport, said Bowdich, who declined to say if the FBI knew who drove the suspected gunman there. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt to look beyond U.S. for arms: foreign minister Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 05:46 PM PDT  By Samia Nakhoul and Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said on Saturday that Egypt would look beyond the United States to meet its security needs and warned Washington that it could no longer ignore popular demands in a changed Arab world. Speaking ahead of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Fahmy said the United States must take a long-term view of its relations with Egypt and understand that in the wake of the Arab Spring, "it would have to deal now with the Arab peoples, not only with Arab governments". Emphasizing the "turbulent" state of Washington's ties with its longtime Arab ally after U.S. military aid curbs in response to the army's overthrow in July of President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Fahmy said Egypt would have to develop "multiple choices, multiple options" to chart its way forward - including military relationships. Full Story | Top |
| UK lawmakers chide police over role in 'pleb' scandal Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 05:13 PM PDT  By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmakers condemned on Sunday the conduct of police officers involved in a bizarre scandal that forced a cabinet minister to resign after being accused of calling a policeman a "pleb". The scandal, which erupted in September 2012, began as a controversy over class prejudice in Prime Minister David Cameron's ruling Conservative Party but later turned into a public relations nightmare for the police. At issue is whether police officers framed the Conservative minister, Andrew Mitchell, and made misleading comments to media to force his resignation, against a backdrop of government cuts in police budgets that had angered many in the rank and file. "This matter has been hugely damaging to the public's perception of the reputation of the police officers involved ... and the force itself," said opposition Labour Party lawmaker Keith Vaz, who chairs parliament's Home Affairs Committee. Full Story | Top |
| Accused Los Angeles airport shooter could face death penalty: prosecutor Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 04:38 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The man accused of opening fire at the Los Angeles International Airport faces charges of murder of a federal officer and committing violence at an international airport, U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte told reporters on Saturday. Under the charges, federal prosecutors could seek the death penalty against Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, Birotte said. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Mohammad Zargham) Full Story | Top |
| Tropical Depression churns toward Mexico's Pacific coast Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 03:22 PM PDT A tropical depression took aim at the Pacific coast of Mexico on Saturday, threatening heavy rains in a broad swath of western Mexico near the same area where other storms have caused major flooding over the past couple of months. Tropical depression Eighteen-E was churning over the Pacific Ocean 360 miles south of the resort city of Los Cabos at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula and could become a tropical storm by Saturday night or Sunday, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said. If the system becomes a tropical storm - with sustained winds of at least 39 mph - it will be called Sonia. Full Story | Top |
| Two French journalists abducted, killed in northern Mali Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 02:22 PM PDT  By Adama Diarra and John Irish BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) - Two French radio journalists were killed by gunmen in northern Mali on Saturday shortly after being abducted in the town of Kidal, French and Malian officials said. The French government confirmed that 58-year old Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont, 51, both journalists at RFI radio, had been found dead. "The French president ... expresses his indignation over this heinous act," Francois Hollande's office said in a statement. Kidal is the birthplace of a Tuareg uprising last year that plunged Mali into chaos, leading to a coup in the capital Bamako and the occupation of the northern half of the country by militants linked to al Qaeda. Full Story | Top |
| Los Angeles airport terminal re-opens as shooting probed Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 02:07 PM PDT By Alex Dobuzinskis and Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles International Airport terminal where a gunman opened fire on Friday morning, killing an unarmed federal airport security officer and wounding others, re-opened to travelers the day after the shooting as authorities probed the motive behind the attack. Authorities have identified the suspected shooter as Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, and they said he was shot and wounded by police in an exchange of gunfire at Terminal 3 at one of the world's busiest airports. Authorities said the gunman fatally shot one TSA officer, identified as Gerardo Hernandez, 39, who was the first from the agency to be killed in the line of duty. Hernandez was at a document verification checkpoint when he was shot, said a TSA official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Full Story | Top |
| Rousseff urges Cabinet to speed up Brazil works projects before election Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 01:56 PM PDT  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who is expected to seek re-election in 2014, urged Cabinet ministers on Saturday to speed up major infrastructure and public services projects, amid concerns about delays with much-needed road, hospital and port improvements. Rousseff met in Brasilia with 15 Cabinet ministers, all of them presiding over ministries related to infrastructure and social policy matters. She asked the ministers to agree on a common timetable for completing the projects, the president's chief of staff, Gleisi Hoffmann, told a news conference. Brazil is scrambling to lift anemic investment levels that have kept its economy stagnant. Full Story | Top |
| UK prison incident resolved with no injuries, officials say Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 01:47 PM PDT An incident involving 40 inmates at Maidstone Prison in Kent, in southeast England, was resolved with no injuries to staff or prisoners, officials said on Saturday. The incident, described as a "riot" by a senior member of the prison officers' trade union, was confined to the Thanet Wing of the prison, which houses about 180 inmates. "An investigation is under way and the perpetrators will be dealt with appropriately by the prison," the Prison Service said. The authorities had deployed additional prison officers to the prison to help deal with the incident. Full Story | Top |
| Niger arrests 150 migrants in crackdown after Sahara deaths Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 01:02 PM PDT Niger arrested about 150 people trying to cross its border into Algeria on Friday in a crackdown on networks ferrying migrants across the Sahara following the death of 92 people in a failed desert crossing last month. The migrants, including 18 Nigerians, were arrested while travelling in a convoy of five vehicles, rescue worker Almoustapha Alhacena and a security official, who asked not to be identified, said on Saturday. "The migrants were mostly men with a few children. They were arrested in the desert and are being held in Arlit, the town from where they illegally left for Algeria," the security official said. Full Story | Top |
| French hostages in West Africa Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 12:34 PM PDT Two French journalists were killed in the northern Mali town of Kidal on Saturday after being taken hostage by armed gunmen, bringing to three the number of French citizens killed in the country since Paris intervened militarily in its former colony in January. The deaths came just days after four French hostages kidnapped in Niger by al Qaeda's north African (AQIM) wing were released following secret talks with officials from the West African country. Paris launched air strikes and sent hundreds of soldiers into Niger's neighbor Mali at the start of the year to drive back al Qaeda-linked rebels it said could turn the West African country into a base for international attacks. Full Story | Top |
| Europe's spies work together on mass surveillance: Guardian Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 11:42 AM PDT  By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - Spy agencies across Western Europe are working together on mass surveillance of Internet and phone traffic comparable to programs run by their U.S. counterpart denounced by European governments, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday. Citing documents leaked by fugitive former U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, the Guardian said methods included tapping into fiber optic cables and working covertly with private telecommunications companies. The Guardian named Germany, France, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands as countries where intelligence agencies had been developing such methods in cooperation with counterparts including Britain's surveillance agency GCHQ. Full Story | Top |
| Fire breaks out in Saudi prison, riots and gunshots reported Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 11:06 AM PDT A fire broke out at a prison in northern Saudi Arabia and rioting and gunshots were reported, a Saudi news website said on Saturday. The official said a statement was expected later from prison authorities. The news website www.sabq.org reported that security forces were at the scene in the Buraidah prison, where the fire was reported in three rooms. Full Story | Top |
| Sectarian clashes kill 55 in north Yemen Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 11:01 AM PDT The death toll in four days of clashes between rival Muslim clans in north Yemen rose to 55 on Saturday, one of the clans said, as the Yemeni government tried to broker a ceasefire in a region that lies largely outside its control. Shi'ite Houthi rebels launched an attack on the town of Damaj, held by their Sunni Salafi rivals, on Wednesday. The army said earlier a ceasefire had come into effect on Friday afternoon, but a Salafi spokesman then said clashes had continued on Saturday, and that in all 55 Salafis had been killed by rockets and tank fire. Yehia Abuesbaa, the head of a presidential committee tasked with ending the fighting in Damaj, said a ceasefire was now expected to come into effect on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| Germany's SPD: no coalition without dual citizenship, labor reform deal Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 10:35 AM PDT  By Holger Hansen BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) will not agree to a "grand coalition" with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives without agreement on core issues including labor market reforms and expanding dual citizenship, its leader said. The SPD got the green light from party members two weeks ago to start coalition talks after it pledged not to budge on 10 "non-negotiable" demands, also including infrastructure investment and equal pay. Full Story | Top |
| Italy justice minister faces calls to quit over influence allegations Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 10:11 AM PDT  By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - Italian Justice Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri faced calls to resign on Saturday over accusations she used her influence to get the ailing daughter of a former insurance magnate out of prison. The loss of an influential minister could further destabilize Prime Minister Enrico Letta's fragile right-left coalition, where tensions are already running high ahead of a vote to expel center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi from parliament later this month over his conviction for tax fraud. The opposition 5-Star Movement said on Friday it would present a no-confidence motion against Cancellieri. The Democratic Party (PD), the largest bloc supporting the government, called on her to address parliament on the matter. Full Story | Top |
| Kenyatta vows to ensure controversial new media law is constitutional Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 09:01 AM PDT  Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta told journalists on Saturday not to panic over a new media law which critics say will muzzle the press in East Africa's biggest economy, saying he will veto it to ensure it is constitutional. Kenyan media and opposition politicians say the new rules passed by parliament will stunt democracy in a country which currently enjoys broad press freedoms. Kenyatta asked journalists to report more responsibly, but said he would closely examine the law, which will only become effective once he signs it. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan Taliban secretly bury leader, vow bombs in revenge Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 08:34 AM PDT  By Saud Mehsud and Hafiz Wazir DERA ISMAIL KHAN/WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban fighters secretly buried their leader on Saturday after he was killed by a U.S. drone aircraft and quickly moved to replace him while vowing a wave of revenge suicide bombings. The Pakistani government denounced the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud as a U.S. bid to derail planned peace talks and summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest. Some lawmakers demanded the blocking of U.S. supply lines into Afghanistan in retaliation. Full Story | Top |
| Georgian PM names successor, ties with Russia a priority Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 08:33 AM PDT  By Margarita Antidze TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's prime minister named Interior Minister Irakly Garibashvili as his successor on Saturday, handing a close ally the task of treading a political tightrope between Russia and the West. Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili has said he will quit as premier after Georgy Margvelashvili is sworn in as president on November 17. Margvelashvili was elected last month to take over from Mikheil Saakashvili, who spent a decade in power pursuing friendly relations with the West - often at the expense of Russia. He named his successor at the headquarters of his Georgian Dream coalition. Full Story | Top |
| Greeks fear more violence after Golden Dawn members shot dead Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 08:22 AM PDT  By Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - A brazen drive-by shooting that killed two young members of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party has shocked Greeks and prompted soul-searching about whether the crisis-hit country is slipping into a "cycle of violence". Greece's anti-terrorism force is investigating whether Friday's rush hour shooting outside the party's offices in Athens was retaliation for a fatal stabbing of an anti-fascism rapper by a Golden Dawn supporter in September, police said. Rapper Pavlos Fissas's death sparked protests across Greece and a government crackdown on Golden Dawn, which is widely considered neo-Nazi and is blamed for attacks against migrants. "We cannot let this cycle of violence continue," Makis Voridis, a senior lawmaker in Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's New Democracy party, told Mega TV. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan summons U.S. ambassador to protest Taliban leader's death Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 08:14 AM PDT The Pakistani government summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest over the death of Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone strike, it said on Saturday. A statement from the Foreign Office said Friday's strike was "counter-productive to Pakistan's efforts to bring peace and stability to Pakistan and the region." Mehsud was head of the Pakistani Taliban, an insurgent group that has beheaded Pakistani soldiers and killed thousands of civilians in suicide bombings. Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain summons head of Shi'ite opposition for questioning Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 06:26 AM PDT  Bahrain police have summoned the head of the main Shi'ite Muslim opposition group al-Wefaq for questioning on Sunday, a source at the interior ministry said on Saturday. Unrest has dogged Bahrain, a Western ally which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, since the 2011 uprising led by majority Shi'ites demanding reforms and more share in running the kingdom ruled by the Sunni Muslim al-Khalifa dynasty. The ministry source had no details of what the questioning of Wefaq Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman was about. His arrest prompted Wefaq to suspend its participation in talks with the government aimed at ending continued Shi'ite opposition protests in the small Gulf Arab island state. Full Story | Top |
| Rousseff gives go-ahead to Brazil fuel price formula, Estado says Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 06:25 AM PDT  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will allow state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA to increase domestic fuel prices "two or three times" a year through the use of a formula without triggering significant consumer price gains, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo said on Saturday. According to Estado, which cited an unidentified presidential aide as the source for the information, Rousseff's endorsement of the plan aims to ensure that the company, commonly known as Petrobras, has a predictable business plan for the years ahead. Petrobras said this week that its new policy to set domestic diesel and gasoline prices will automatically trigger adjustments based on international prices, exchange rates and other factors. The methodology will not allow full pass-through of volatility of international oil prices, Petrobras said. Full Story | Top |
| Georgian PM names interior minister as his successor Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 04:38 AM PDT  By Margarita Antidze TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's prime minister on Saturday proposed his close ally, Interior Minister Irakly Garibashvili, to succeed him when he steps down in the next few weeks. Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili has said he will quit as premier after Georgy Margvelashvili is sworn in as president on November 17. Garibashvili still has to be nominated by parliament and approved by Margvelashvili, but both steps are a formality as Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition dominates the assembly and the president is an ally of Ivanishvili. Margvelashvili was elected last month to take over from pro-Western Mikheil Saakashvili, who spent a decade in power. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan Taliban promote number two to replace leader slain by drone Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 02:33 AM PDT The Pakistani Taliban voted on Saturday to promote their number two commander, Khan Said, also known as Sajna, to replace leader Hakimullah Mehsud who was killed in a strike by a U.S. drone, militant commanders and security sources said. Said is believed to have masterminded an attack on a jail in northwest Pakistan that freed nearly 400 prisoners in 2012 and an attack on a Pakistani air force base in the same year. Mehsud was killed by a U.S. drone in northwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border, on Friday. (Writing By Katharine Houreld; Full Story | Top |
| China to end use of prisoners' organs for transplants in mid-2014 Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 01:58 AM PDT  By Li Hui and Ben Blanchard HANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - China, the only country that still systematically takes organs from executed prisoners for use in transplant operations, plans to end the controversial practice by the middle of next year, a senior official said on Saturday. By mid-2014, all hospitals licensed for organ transplants will be required to stop using organs from executed prisoners and only use those voluntarily donated and allocated through a fledging national system, said Huang Jiefu, a former deputy health minister who heads the organ transplant reform. The supply of human organs falls far short of demand in China due in part to a traditional belief that bodies should be buried or cremated intact. Full Story | Top |
| Japan, Russia agree to cooperate on security as China rises Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 12:44 AM PDT  Japan and Russia held their first joint defense and foreign ministers' meeting on Saturday and agreed to boost security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific as they both warily watch neighboring China's rising influence. Japan and Russia have never signed a treaty to mark the end of World War Two because of a territorial dispute but they are moving to deepen ties despite that, and despite Russian concern about Japan's role in a U.S. missile defense program. The foreign ministers of both countries said the meeting helped build trust. "To boost cooperation in the field of security, and not just in the field of economic and people exchanges, means that we are improving overall Japan-Russia ties," Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a news conference. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani Taliban gather for funeral of leader killed by drone Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:28 PM PDT  By Jibran Ahmad PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban fighters gathered on Saturday for the funeral of their leader who was killed by a U.S. drone aircraft while some Pakistani politicians denounced the attack and called for the cutting of U.S. supply lines into Afghanistan. Pakistani security officials said Hakimullah Mehsud, who had a $5 million bounty on his head, and three others were killed on Friday in the militant stronghold of Miranshah in northwest Pakistan. Mehsud was killed when his vehicle was hit after he attended a meeting of Taliban leaders, a Pakistani Taliban fighter said. Full Story | Top |
| China says Tiananmen attackers carried out reconnaissance trips Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:56 PM PDT  By Paul Carsten BEIJING (Reuters) - Eight suspected Islamist separatists behind a deadly attack in the Chinese capital had carried out three reconnaissance trips and collected 400 liters of fuel in preparation for their assault on Tiananmen Square, state media said. The accused all came from Hotan in the restive far western region of Xinjiang and were hiding out in western Beijing ahead of the attack, state television said late on Friday. The car ploughed through bystanders on the edge of the capital's iconic Tiananmen Square and burst into flames, killing the three people in the car and two bystanders, in what the government called a "terrorist attack". The incident has led to increased suppression of the Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang, according to the main Uighur exile group, who said 53 people have been arrested by Chinese armed forces for illegally hoarding religious publications as authorities step up inspections. Full Story | Top |
| China says will stamp out Dalai Lama's voice in Tibet Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:27 PM PDT  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China aims to stamp out the voice of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in his restive and remote homeland by ensuring that his "propaganda" is not received by anyone on the internet, television or other means, a top official said. China has tried, with varying degrees of success, to prevent Tibetans listening to or watching programs broadcast from outside the country, or accessing any information about the Dalai Lama and the exiled government on the internet. The Dalai Lama's picture and his teachings are also smuggled into Tibet, at great personal risk. Writing in the ruling Communist Party's influential journal Qiushi, the latest issue of which was received by subscribers on Saturday, Tibet's party chief Chen Quanguo said that the government would ensure only its voice is heard. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan Taliban: leader's body 'recognizable' after drone strike Friday, Nov 01, 2013 09:58 PM PDT A Pakistani Taliban fighter said on Saturday that leader Hakimullah Mehsud's body was "damaged but recognizable" after a U.S. drone strike hit his vehicle, in the first eyewitness account of his death. Security officials have said Mehsud and three others were killed on Friday in the Taliban stronghold of Miranshah. He took over as leader of the Pakistani Taliban in 2009 after its two previous leaders were killed in drone strikes. Taliban commanders said Mehsud's funeral would be held on Saturday and commanders were debating his replacement. Full Story | Top |
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