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| Antarctic helicopter rescue of trapped ship passengers delayed due to sea ice Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 07:59 PM PST  By Maggie Lu Yueyang SYDNEY (Reuters) - A planned helicopter rescue of 52 passengers on a Russian ship stranded in Antarctic ice since Christmas Eve was delayed on Thursday due to unfavorable sea ice conditions in the area. The helicopter on the Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon had planned to lift passengers from the trapped Akademik Shokalskiy on Thursday and then use a barge to transport them to the nearby Aurora Australis, Australia's Antarctic supply ship. Full Story | Top |
| Helicopter to free ship passengers trapped in Antarctic ice Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 03:42 PM PST  A helicopter from a Chinese icebreaker is set to lift passengers from a Russian ship stranded in Antarctic since Christmas Eve, putting an end to a nine-day international rescue cooperation. The helicopter on the Snow Dragon has been waiting on standby for better weather conditions to start the rescue operation. Two other vessels, Australia's Aurora Australis and a French flagged ship, also tried to help but failed to reach the ship due to high wind and heavy snow. "Weather conditions have improved in the area and rescue operations are likely to commence shortly by helicopter," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which is coordinating the rescue, said on Thursday morning. Full Story | Top |
| Stung by curbs, Indian iron ore companies throw in towel Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 03:04 PM PST  By Krishna N Das and Manolo Serapio Jr Codli Village, INDIA/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Top Indian trader MMTC's $80 million iron ore export terminal, ready since 2010, has never handled a cargo. Bans on iron ore mining and exports in India's top producing states of Karnataka and Goa have choked the industry so hard that MMTC is one of many firms exiting. Even if efforts to fully lift the bans make it past the many bureaucratic and legal hurdles, iron ore miners do not expect complete resumption of production until late 2014. The bans, put in place as the government tried to clamp down on illegal mining, have cut India's iron ore exports by around 85 percent, or 100 million tonnes, over the past two years. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan president declares state of emergency ahead of talks Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 12:12 PM PST By Carl Odera and Aaron Maasho JUBA/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - South Sudanese President Salva Kiir declared a state of emergency in two states on Wednesday as his negotiators prepared for peace talks with rebels to end more than two weeks of violence that has pushed the country towards civil war. Kiir called the emergency in Unity and Jonglei states, the two regions whose capitals are now controlled by rebel forces loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar, who Kiir has accused of plotting a coup. The White House has said it would deny support - vital in a country the size of France that still has hardly any infrastructure more than two years after secession - to any group that seizes power by force. The rebel delegation earlier arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa ready for the ceasefire talks. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan declares emergency in two states: government Twitter account Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 11:05 AM PST South Sudanese President Salva Kiir declared a state of emergency in two states on Wednesday, the government said on its official Twitter account. "President Kiir has declared a state of emergency for Unity and Jonglei states #SouthSudan," the statement on the @RepSouthSudan Twitter handle said. Full Story | Top |
| Coup-leader president's candidate poised to win Madagascar vote Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 04:46 AM PST  By Alain Iloniaina ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - The candidate backed by Madagascar's coup-leader President Andry Rajoelina held on Wednesday an apparently unassailable lead in the island's run-off vote, which his rival's camp has said was rigged. Former Finance Minister Hery Rajaonarimampianina has won more than 53 percent of the December 20 vote with ballots counted in more than 99 percent of polling stations, provisional results showed. The election, the first since former disc jockey Rajoelina ousted then President Marc Ravalomanana in 2009 with the help of renegade troops, is meant to end a crisis that has driven out investors, cut aid flows and sharply slowed the economy. Jean Louis Robinson, who is backed by exiled Ravalomanana and has 46 percent of votes, this week demanded a recount. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan rebels seize key town of Bor - mayor Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 01:48 AM PST South Sudanese rebels loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar have seized control of Bor, the capital of restive Jonglei state, the town's Mayor said on Wednesday. Nhial Majak Nhial told Reuters government troops loyal to President Salva Kiir had made a "tactical withdrawal" to Malual Chaat army barracks, 3 km (2 miles) south of the town on Tuesday, after fighting that started at dawn. "Yes they (rebels) have taken Bor," Nhial, said from the national capital Juba, 190 km south of Bor by road. 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 an ethnic-based civil war in the heart of a fragile region. Full Story | Top |
| S. Sudan government, rebels set for New Year's Day talks -mediators Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 01:30 AM PST  By Carl Odera and Aaron Maasho JUBA/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - South Sudan's government and rebels were set to start New Year's Day peace talks in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, to thrash out details of a ceasefire to end more than two weeks of ethnic bloodletting in the world's newest state, mediators said. Delegations from both sides would arrive later on Wednesday, said regional bloc IGAD, as South Sudan's government acknowledged it had lost the key town of Bor in the latest clash with militias loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar. "I'm worried that the continued fighting in Bor might scupper the start of these talks," said Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom, who is chairman of the East African bloc the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) that is mediating. IGAD said both sides would name teams of negotiators to agree on ways to roll out and monitor the ceasefire, in a bid to end the fighting that has killed at least 1,000, unsettled oil markets and raised fears of a civil war in a fragile region. Full Story | Top |
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