Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Daily News: Reuters News Headlines - Revelers usher in 2014 with fireworks, festivities

Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 07:09 PM PST
Today's Reuters News Headlines - Yahoo! News:

Revelers usher in 2014 with fireworks, festivities 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 07:09 PM PST
Fireworks explode around the London Eye wheel during New Year celebrations in central LondonBy Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - From Sydney to Dubai, revelers welcomed 2014 with extravagant fireworks displays, while London prepared to celebrate by spraying clouds of fruit-flavored mist and Chicago and San Francisco planned massive outdoor festivities. In New York, crowds gathered in Times Square for the annual New Year's Eve street party. By midnight, some one million people were expected to be on hand for Miley Cyrus, Melissa Etheridge and hip-hop artists Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and the dropping of the 11,875-pound, crystal-encrusted ball marking the start of the new year. "We've been living on granola bars and little bottles of water because if you move, you lose your spot," said Sheila Harshbarger, who traveled to New York from Indiana with her daughter and staked out ground next to a row of police barricades in the freezing cold more than 14 hours before midnight.
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U.S. consumer mood brightens, but home price gains slow 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 09:58 AM PST
File photo of shopper walking down aisle in newly opened Walmart Neighborhood Market in ChicagoBy Steven C. Johnson NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumers' mood improved as 2013 drew to a close, with many optimistic about their future job prospects, while home prices rose again in October, though the pace of gains slowed. The data releases provided more evidence of strength in the U.S. economy, which appears to have overcome headwinds caused by an autumn government shutdown, higher taxes and rising mortgage rates. We had better GDP growth even though interest rates have gone up with the Fed," said Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Financial Services, adding "2014 will be a better year with less fiscal drag." The rise in the Conference Board's index of consumer attitudes to 78.1 in December brought it to within reach of levels last seen before a standoff in Congress over fiscal policy caused the government to shut down in October. "Despite the many challenges throughout 2013, consumers are in better spirits today than when the year began," Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, said in a statement.
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U.S. justice grants exemption in contraception mandate challenge 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 07:46 PM PST
A man looks over the Affordable Care Act signup page on the HealthCare.gov website in New York in this photo illustrationBy Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roman Catholic Church-affiliated organizations on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to block implementation of a part of the Obamacare healthcare law that requires employers to provide insurance policies that cover contraception. Catholic University of America and nonprofits in Michigan and Tennessee were among those filing three separate applications asking the court to temporarily exempt them from the so-called contraception mandate while litigation continues. The mandate, which is due to take effect for the organizations on January 1, is already in place for many women who have private health insurance. The court did not immediately respond to the applications.
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Kerry to push for solutions as Israeli-Palestinian peace talks intensify 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 12:48 PM PST
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a joint news conference with Philippines' Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario in ManilaBy Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hopes to narrow differences between Israelis and Palestinians in peace talks this week that are intended to guide the sides toward a deal in April, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday. Kerry departs for the region on Wednesday in his first trip after a Christmas break. Israel and Palestinians resumed peace talks in July after a three-year break aimed at producing a peace agreement within nine months to end their decades-old conflict. Such a step would also demonstrate to both Israelis and Palestinians that progress is being made.
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Iran says nuclear deal to be implemented in late January 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 12:50 PM PST
By Marcus George DUBAI (Reuters) - World powers and Iran have agreed to start implementing in late January an agreement obliging Tehran to suspend its most sensitive nuclear work, an Iranian official was quoted as saying on Tuesday. There was no immediate confirmation of the agreement from the six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - or the European Union, which oversees contacts with Iran on behalf of the six. The reported agreement follows nearly 23 hours of talks between nuclear experts from Iran and the six powers held in Geneva on Monday and Tuesday.
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Apple says never worked with NSA on iPhone hacks 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 01:32 PM PST
People check out several versions of the new iPhone 5C after Apple Inc's media event in CupertinoApple Inc has never worked with the U.S. National Security Agency and is unaware of efforts to target its smartphones, the company said in response to reports that the spy agency had developed a system to hack into and monitor iPhones. Germany's Der Spiegel reported this week that a secretive unit of the NSA, which is under fire for the extent and depth of its spying programs around the world, makes specialized gear and software to infiltrate and monitor a plethora of computing devices, including mobile phones. (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-941262.html) The report included an NSA graphic dated 2008 that outlined a system in development called DROPOUTJEEP, described as a "software implant" that allows infiltrators to push and pull and retrieve data from iPhones such as contact lists. In a statement issued Tuesday, the NSA did not comment on any specific allegations but said that its interest "in any given technology is driven by the use of that technology by foreign intelligence targets." "The United States pursues its intelligence mission with care to ensure that innocent users of those same technologies are not affected," the agency added.
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North Korean leader says purge was a cleansing of 'filth' 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 08:24 PM PST
A man walks past televisions showing reports on the execution of Jang Song Thaek, in SeoulBy Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first reference to the execution of his powerful uncle in a New Year's address, saying the reclusive state's ruling party had become stronger after it was purged of "factional filth." And he called for better relations with South Korea, warning that another war on the Korean peninsula would cause a massive nuclear disaster that would hit the United States. Kim, the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, did not refer by name to his uncle Jang Song Thaek, who was executed last month in a rare public purge for crimes against the ruling Workers' Party and harming national interest.
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Egypt security forces arrest Brotherhood leader's son 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 12:56 PM PST
By Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces have arrested the son of a Muslim Brotherhood leader on charges of inciting violence, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday, the latest move in a crackdown against the group now branded a terrorist organization. Anas Beltagi was arrested with two others in an apartment in Nasr City, the same district where security forces in August broke up protests calling for the reinstatement of President Mohamed Mursi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader who was ousted by the army in July. They were found in possession of a shotgun and ammunition, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Beltagi's father, Mohamed Beltagi, is in jail facing trial for inciting violence along with other Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
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South Sudan government, rebels set for New Year's Day talks 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 07:02 PM PST
A man walks past burnt-out shops in MalakalBy Carl Odera and Aaron Maasho JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's government and rebels are set for New Year's Day peace talks in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, to thrash out a ceasefire to end weeks of ethnic bloodletting in the world's newest state. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire on Tuesday, mediators said, but fighting between government troops and militias loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar raged in Bor, the capital of the vast Jonglei state and site of an ethnic massacre in 1991. "I'm worried that the continued fighting in Bor might scupper the start of these talks," said Ethiopian Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom, who is chairman of the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) bloc that is mediating the talks. Western and regional powers have pushed both sides to end the fighting that has killed at least 1,000 people, cut South Sudan's oil output and raised fears of a full-blown civil war in the heart of a fragile region.
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Putin vows to annihilate "terrorists" after suicide bombings 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 01:11 PM PST
By Sergei Karpov VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday vowed to annihilate all "terrorists" following two deadly bomb attacks in the southern Russian city of Volgograd that raised security fears ahead of the Winter Olympics. The uncompromising remarks in a televised New Year address were Putin's first public comments since suicide bombers killed at least 34 people in attacks less than 24 hours apart on a railway station and a trolleybus on Sunday and Monday. But after two decades of violence in the North Caucasus, Islamist militants continue to pose a threat beyond their home region. Russia's Olympic Committee chief said no more could be done to safeguard the Games since every measure possible was already in place around Sochi, beneath the Caucasus mountains.
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Thousands block Central African Republic flights in plea for help 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 08:44 AM PST
By Paul-Marin Ngoupana and Serge Leger Kokpakpa BANGUI (Reuters) - Thousands of people caught up in fighting in Central African Republic blocked the runway of its international airport on Tuesday, demanding more aid and the resignation of the president. Families and other refugees chanted anti-government slogans near a makeshift camp where they have taken shelter since clashes erupted between mostly Muslim Seleka fighters and Christian militias early in December. "We are going to stop the takeoff and landing of planes to draw more attention from the international community," said camp resident Rene Kaimba. Some called for the country's interim President Michel Djotodia to step down.
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Residents allowed to return home after smoky North Dakota rail crash 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 01:46 PM PST
By Alicia Underlee Nelson CASSELTON, North Dakota (Reuters) - Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted on Tuesday in Casselton, North Dakota, where a fiery oil train crash a day earlier triggered a series of blasts and forced residents from their homes. The 106-car BNSF Railway Co oil train struck a derailed grain train on Monday afternoon about a mile west of Casselton, a town of 2,300 people. "The environment within the city limits of Casselton is now safe for residents to return to their homes," the Cass County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. One or two train cars carrying oil were still burning, but the fire is contained, said Casselton Mayor Ed McConnell.
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South Sudan government, rebels set for New Year's Day talks 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 01:11 PM PST
By Carl Odera and Aaron Maasho JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's government and rebels are set for New Year's Day peace talks in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, to thrash out a ceasefire to end weeks of ethnic bloodletting in the world's newest state. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire on Tuesday, mediators said, but fighting between government troops and militias loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar raged in Bor, the capital of the vast Jonglei state and site of an ethnic massacre in 1991. "I'm worried that the continued fighting in Bor might scupper the start of these talks," said Ethiopian Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom, who is chairman of the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) bloc that is mediating the talks. Western and regional powers have pushed both sides to end the fighting that has killed at least 1,000 people, cut South Sudan's oil output and raised fears of a full-blown civil war in the heart of a fragile region.
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Revelers usher in 2014 with fireworks, festivities 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 02:18 PM PST
Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre during a pyrotechnic show to celebrate the New Year in Hong KongBy Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - From Sydney to Dubai, revelers welcomed 2014 with extravagant fireworks displays, while London prepared to celebrate by spraying clouds of fruit-flavored mist and Chicago and San Francisco planned massive outdoor celebrations. In New York, about one million people were expected to gather in Times Square for the New Year's Eve street party as Miley Cyrus, Melissa Etheridge and hip-hop artists Macklemore & Ryan Lewis headline the festivities and the dropping of a 11,875-pound, crystal-encrusted ball marks the start of 2014. "If New York can drop a ball... then we can lower the opossum," organizers explained on their website. Chicago, which could see a significant snow storm amid its flurry of festivities, was offering free rides on trains and buses from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. to ensure revelers make it home safely.
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Anti-Assad monitoring group says Syrian death toll passes 130,000 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 03:56 PM PST
The death toll in Syria's civil war has risen to at least 130,433, more than a third of them civilians on both sides of the conflict, but the real figure is probably much higher, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday. The conflict in Syria began in March 2011 as peaceful protests against four decades of rule by President Bashar al-Assad's family, but turned into an armed insurgency whose sectarian dimensions have reverberated across the Middle East. The anti-Assad Observatory, based in Britain but with a network of sources across Syria, put the number of women and children killed in the conflict so far at 11,709. It said the death toll among rebels fighting the Assad government was at least 29,083.
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Turkish minister says fending off 'mini-coup attempt' 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 08:46 AM PST
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan speaks to the IOC in Buenos AiresBy Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's government said on Tuesday it was fending off a "mini coup attempt" by elements in the police and judiciary who served the interests of foreign and domestic forces bent on humbling the country. Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said the ruling AK Party had in the past survived military coup plots and attempts in the courts to outlaw it. "These latest formations in the judiciary and the police, we can't call it a coup, but a mini coup attempt. This is what interests foreign investors," he told broadcaster CNBC-e, echoing suggestions by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of a foreign interest in the crisis.
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U.S. sends three minority Chinese detainees to Slovakia 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 09:29 AM PST
WASHINGTON/PRAGUE (Reuters) - The United States is sending the three remaining ethnic Uighur Chinese inmates at the Guantanamo Bay detention center to Slovakia, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, in the latest of a flow of transfers aimed at eventually shutting the controversial prison. Yusef Abbas, Saidullah Khalik, and Hajiakbar Abdul Ghuper are the last of 22 Muslim minority Chinese nationals to be moved from the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba, Rear Admiral John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. "This transfer and resettlement constitutes a significant milestone in our effort to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay," Kirby said in a statement.
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U.S. home price gains slow in October, but yearly gain increases: S&P 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 06:04 AM PST
Single family home is shown for sale in EncinitasHousing prices have been rising since early 2012, and a rebound in the sector has helped the U.S. recovery gain steam. But the more subdued monthly gains "show we are living on borrowed time and the boom is fading," David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement. "The key economic question facing housing is the Fed's future course to scale back quantitative easing and how this will affect mortgage rates," he said.
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Schumacher slightly better but fragile: doctors 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 11:38 AM PST
File photo of Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher skiing in the northern Italian resort of Madonna Di CampiglioBy Lucien Libert GRENOBLE, France (Reuters) - French doctors treating Michael Schumacher for brain injuries sustained in a ski fall said the seven-times Formula One world champion was in slightly better condition on Tuesday after an overnight operation, but that he remained fragile. Doctors treating him at a hospital in the eastern city of Grenoble said his condition had stabilized enough by late Monday to carry out a new operation to treat the effects of internal bleeding within Schumacher's skull. "We have won some time but we must continue an hour-by-hour surveillance... It is premature to speculate on his condition," he said, adding that Schumacher was still in a critical state and suffering from severe lesions and contusions. He said the operation was designed to reduce, within Schumacher's skull, the pressure on the brain.
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Thousands protest against Niger government 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 05:36 AM PST
Niger's President Issoufou talks to journalists after a meeting with French President at the Elysee Palace in ParisThousands of opposition supporters staged a protest rally on Saturday against what they said was the failure of President Mahamadou Issoufou to improve living standards in Niger, one of the world's poorest countries. The rally, in the capital Niamey, was the largest in Niger since pro-democracy protests against then-President Mamadou Tandja that helped to block his bid to serve a third term and ushered in a military coup that toppled him in February 2010. It was the first public show of strength by the Alliance for the Republic, Democracy and Reconciliation in Niger (ARDR), a coalition of 15 opposition parties formed in October. Last month, a court lifted a government ban on opposition marches.
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Thai PM seeks reconciliation despite threat of more protests 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 03:41 AM PST
Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra leaves the Government Complex after a meeting with the Election Commission in BangkokBy Viparat Jantraprap BANGKOK (Reuters) - Embattled Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra called for reconciliation on Tuesday as the streets of the capital, Bangkok, emptied ahead of New Year celebrations, a rare period of calm after weeks of unrest. Anti-government protesters have vowed to disrupt a February 2 election called by Yingluck in a bid to settle a crisis that has pitted her government against Bangkok's conservative elite and middle class. The demonstrators have threatened to shut down Bangkok after the New Year, with plans to block roads in up to 20 places, although the scope of their protests has not always matched the promises made by their leader, Suthep Thaugsuban. Yingluck has not been in Bangkok for more than a week, spending time among supporters in the north, but she used social media to send a message seeking peace and reconciliation.
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Bahrain says probing torture claims by men jailed in bombs case 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 05:33 AM PST
Bahrain said on Tuesday it was investigating torture claims by three men jailed for 15 years for two homemade-bomb attacks - including one during last year's Formula 1 car race. BNA said the men had admitted being behind the bombings but the men's lawyer, Jassim Sarhan, told Reuters they pleaded not guilty to involvement in the attacks and told the court their confessions during questioning were obtained under torture. The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) did receive complaints from the defendants," the government's Information Affairs Authority (IAA) said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "The SIU takes these allegations very seriously and have looked into these claims.
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Analysis: Bahrain impasse risks more instability in 2014 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 02:55 AM PST
General Secretary of Al-Wefaq, Ali Salman, walks as protesters behind him shout anti-government slogans in BudaiyaBy Rania El Gamal DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahraini government and opposition groups are sliding into an increasingly dogged confrontation amid rising fears over violence, with authorities using arrests, raids and strict new laws against activists seeking political reform. An example was a July car bombing in the capital: the resulting security crackdown, involving raids, arrests, tough new laws and strict sentencing, boosted the Sunni Muslim monarchy's control, but mutual mistrust was also deepened. "The worst scenario is that the crackdown by the authorities will increase and the violent reaction to this crackdown will also increase," said Sheikh Ali Salman, a Shi'ite cleric and head of the main opposition al-Wefaq group, which advocates non-violence. On Monday, the government said it had foiled an attempt to smuggle explosives and arms, some made in Iran and Syria, into the country by boat.
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French priest kidnapped in Cameroon set free: French government 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 05:01 AM PST
Georges Vandenbeusch, the French Catholic priest kidnapped in northern Cameroon last month, has been released, the office of President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday. Hollande thanked Cameroonian and Nigerian authorities for their work in securing his release and highlighted the "personal involvement" of Cameroonian President Paul Biya, according to the brief statement. The 42-year-old priest had chosen to remain in northern Cameroon, a zone where Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram is known to operate, despite the security threat. His November 13 kidnapping was the latest in a series of attacks on French targets in Africa since France launched a military intervention in Mali in January to oust al Qaeda Islamists there, who had forged links with Boko Haram.
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Exclusive: China may raise Iran oil imports with new contract: sources 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 01:26 AM PST
FILE - In this Tuesday, April 15, 2008 file photo Iranian oil technician Majid Afshari makes his way to the oil separator facilities in Iran's Azadegan oil field southwest of Tehran, Iran. The market is so flush with oil at the moment that even the loss of more Iranian crude from the market may not lead to short supplies and higher prices. In fact, if Iran figures out a way to get around the sanctions and get more of its oil to market, oil prices could fall further. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)By Chen Aizhu BEIJING (Reuters) - China may buy more Iranian oil next year as a state trader is negotiating a new light crude contract that could raise imports from Tehran to levels not seen since tough Western sanctions were imposed in 2012, running the risk of upsetting Washington. An increase would go against the spirit of November's breakthrough agreement relaxing some of the stringent measures slapped on Iran two years ago over its nuclear program. The November deal between Tehran and the group known as P5+1 -- made up of the United States and five other global powers -- paused efforts to reduce Iran's crude sales but required buyers to hold to "current average amounts" of Iranian oil imports. That agreement was seen as a reward for a softer diplomatic tone from Tehran that was forced, some U.S. officials and lawmakers say, by U.S. and EU sanctions that slashed Iran's oil exports by more than half to about 1 million barrels per day (bpd) and cost it as much as $80 billion in lost revenue.
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Special Report: Lost hooves, dead cattle before Merck halted Zilmax sales 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 12:18 AM PST
A cowboy moves livestock in a cattle feedlot next to a Tyson slaughterhouse near PascoBy P.J. Huffstutter and Tom Polansek WALLA WALLA COUNTY, WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. beef industry's dependence on the muscle-building drug Zilmax began unraveling here, on a sweltering summer day, in the dusty cattle pens outside a Tyson Foods Inc slaughterhouse in southeastern Washington state. Tyson Foods spokesman Gary Mickelson said his company doesn't know exactly what happened to the small group of cattle that were destroyed at the plant near Pasco.
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Slovakia to take in three more Guantanamo detainees 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 03:28 AM PST
Slovakia will take in three detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the central European country's interior ministry said on Friday. The European Union and NATO member first accepted three Guantanamo prisoners in 2010 and the ministry said the latest transfer is a continuation of an EU-U.S. agreement aimed at helping President Barack Obama close the controversial prison. Last week, Obama gave credit to Congress for relaxing restrictions on transferring detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay to the custody of foreign governments but said lawmakers needed to go further. The regulations could remain an obstacle to the administration's years-long bid to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, where 158 detainees from various countries remain after years of detention without trial.
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Congo 'prophet' says criticism of Kabila prompted violence 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 04:58 AM PST
Congolese security officers position themselves as they secure the street near the state television headquarters in KinshasaBy Bienvenu Bakumanya KINSHASA (Reuters) - A self-proclaimed Congolese 'prophet' said on Tuesday an uprising by his supporters in Kinshasa was prompted by an army assault on his residence after he criticized President Joseph Kabila, something the government denied. Armed youths tried to seize the airport, a military barracks and the state television headquarters in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday before being repulsed by troops, in clashes the government said killed 103 people, including 8 soldiers. Paul Joseph Mukungubila, who calls himself 'the prophet of the Eternal' and who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2006, said the attacks were a spontaneous response by his followers to an army assault on his home in the eastern mining town of Lubumbashi. "I have lost a lot of brothers ... I cannot understand what happened," Mukungubila told Radio France Internationale, insisting his followers were not carrying arms.
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Talks to ease Northern Ireland tensions break down 
Monday, Dec 30, 2013 11:16 PM PST
Adams speaks to the media in BelfastBy Ian Graham BELFAST (Reuters) - Marathon talks between the leaders of Northern Ireland's Catholic and Protestant communities broke down on Tuesday without agreement to ease tensions that have led to one of the worst years of rioting in the British province for a decade. The U.S. diplomat chairing the talks said the five largest parties in Northern Ireland failed to reach an agreement during 18 hours of talks that ended shortly before 0500 GMT, the culmination of six months of negotiations. That put an end three decades of sustained sectarian violence in the province between pro-British Protestants and Catholics who generally favor unification with Ireland. We are not there," said Richard Haass, the president of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations think-tank and a former adviser to the President George W. Bush on Northern Ireland.
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Bangladesh issues warrant for fire disaster factory owner 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 02:22 AM PST
By Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - A Bangladesh court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for a fugitive garment factory owner on homicide charges for the deaths of 112 workers in a fire last year, police said. Police last week laid charges against Delwar Hossain, his wife and 11 employees of Tazreen Fashions, a rare step in a country where critics complain that powerful garment industry bosses often go unpunished for factory accidents. Many of those who died in the multi-storey building on the outskirts of Dhaka in November last year perished because supervisors ordered workers back to their stations even as an alarm rang and smoke rose through an internal staircase. Dhaka's senior judicial magistrate, Wasim Sheikh, issued arrest warrants for Hossain, his wife and four other company officials, prosecutor Anwarul Kabir said.
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Israel frees Palestinian prisoners before Kerry visit 
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013 06:25 AM PST
Newly released prisoner Taktook is greeted upon his arrival at his home in NablusBy Ali Sawafta RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners on Tuesday, days before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was due back in the Middle East to press the two sides to reach a framework peace deal. Israel agreed to release a total of 104 Palestinian prisoners as part of a U.S.-brokered package that in July revived peace talks after a three-year break. On Friday, an Israeli official said plans would be announced after the release to build 1,400 homes for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, territory Palestinians seek for a state along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Jailed before or just after the first Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accord was signed 20 years ago, the inmates boarded buses for home outside Ofer prison in the West Bank as Israelis protested in East Jerusalem against the amnesty.
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