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| South Korea cuts future reliance on nuclear power, but new plants likely Monday, Jan 13, 2014 07:40 PM PST  By Jane Chung SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea has revised down its future reliance on nuclear power, although growing energy demand and the shutdown of aging reactors mean it is still likely to need more nuclear-fired plants over the coming two decades. Asia's fourth-largest economy has been under pressure to curb its use of nuclear power in the wake of a safety scandal that led to the shutdown of some nuclear reactors to replace parts supplied with fake safety certificates. The energy ministry said on Tuesday it has changed its energy policy to reduce the country's reliance on nuclear power to 29 percent of total power supply by 2035, down from a planned 41 percent by 2030 and in line with a draft proposal. Nuclear power made up 26 percent of South Korea's energy mix as at end-2012. Full Story | Top |
| Chinese military ordered to buy locally-made vehicles Monday, Jan 13, 2014 07:18 PM PST  Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ordered the military to choose domestic brands when procuring vehicles, part of a broad effort to reduce costs and buy locally-produced goods, state media reported. The decision, contained in a circular issued late on Monday, follows a ban in April on the use of military license plates on luxury cars, most of which were foreign brands. Xi, who became Communist Party chief in November 2012 and also serves as president and top military leader as head of the Central Military Commission, has launched a government-wide drive to encourage frugality and fight corruption. The purchase of new military cars should be arranged through a centralized system, it said. Full Story | Top |
| Thai protesters target ministries, threaten bourse Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:39 PM PST  By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Protesters trying to topple Thailand's government said they would tighten the blockade around ministries on Tuesday and a hardline faction threatened to storm the stock exchange, while many major intersections in the capital Bangkok remained blocked. The turmoil is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict pitting the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former premier who was ousted by the military in 2006. Many ministries and the central bank were forced to work from back-up offices on Monday after protesters led by Suthep Thaugsuban stopped civil servants getting to work. "We must surround government buildings, closing them in the morning and leaving in the afternoon," Suthep told supporters late on Monday, urging them to do that every day until Yingluck steps down. Full Story | Top |
| El Salvador opposition party leads tight election race: poll Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:31 PM PST  By Nelson Renteria SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - The presidential candidate from El Salvador's right-wing opposition Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party is extending his narrow lead in the race to win February's election, according to a poll released on Monday. ARENA candidate Norman Quijano has 35.5 percent of voters' support, while former guerilla commander Salvador Sanchez, candidate for the ruling Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation, is close behind with 31.8 percent, according to the survey by polling firm Mitofsky. "I wouldn't call it a technical tie, but it's a close race," Roy Campos, president of Mitofsky Consulting, said in a television interview. Mitofsky in July had Quijano with 33 percent of voters' support and Sanchez with 32 percent. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. and Russia say Syria aid access and local ceasefire possible Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:04 PM PST  By Warren Strobel PARIS (Reuters) - Syria's government and some rebels may be willing to permit humanitarian aid to flow, enforce local ceasefires and take other confidence-building measures in the nearly three-year-old civil war, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday. Kerry said that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "talked today about the possibility of trying to encourage a ceasefire. Maybe a localized ceasefire, beginning with Aleppo," Syria's largest city. "And both of us have agreed to try to work to see if that could be achieved." Syrian rebels backed by Washington have agreed that, if the government commits to such a partial ceasefire, "they would live up to it", Kerry said. Full Story | Top |
| Tap water use ban lifted in parts of West Virginia after spill Monday, Jan 13, 2014 04:38 PM PST  West Virginia officials on Monday lifted a ban on drinking or bathing with tap water in some areas of the state hit by a chemical spill that affected hundreds of thousands of people for five days, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin said. Officials had ordered some 300,000 people not to drink their tap water after as much as 7,500 gallons (28,000 liters) of the 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, or crude MCHM, leaked into the river. Jeff McIntyre, president of West Virginia American Water Co, said the first area cleared for use was in downtown Charleston, the state capital. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico urges vigilantes to stand down in drug gang conflict Monday, Jan 13, 2014 04:22 PM PST  Mexico's government on Monday pledged to take control of a violent western state after days of fighting between masked vigilantes and members of one of the country's most powerful drug cartels. Since late last year, vigilante groups in the state of Michoacan have moved deeper into territory controlled by the Knights Templar cartel and they now are converging on Apatzingan, considered one of gang's main strongholds. The vigilantes' advance has raised the risk of a bloody urban battle in Apatzingan. Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Letta sees opportunities in Mexico's energy reform Monday, Jan 13, 2014 04:15 PM PST  By Gabriel Stargardter MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said on Monday he sees opportunities for Italian firms to invest in Mexico's energy sector thanks to a government opening of the ailing, long-shuttered industry. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto last month signed a bill into law that ended the country's 75-year-old oil and gas monopoly. Speaking on a state visit alongside Pena Nieto, who has pushed overhauls to the country's telecoms, banking and tax laws since taking office in 2012, Letta said the opening up of Mexico's energy sector was a big opportunity for Italian firms. "The reforms that President Pena Nieto began to enact last year, and continues to enact this year, open very interesting opportunities for Italian businessmen and for our country," Letta said. Full Story | Top |
| Hollande bids to deflect glare from private life to reforms Monday, Jan 13, 2014 03:06 PM PST  By Mark John PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande will aim at a news conference on Tuesday to set out plans to revive the weak French economy and deflect questions about his private life after allegations surfaced of a secret love affair with an actress. His New Year's encounter with journalists in his Elysee Palace will be the French leader's first public appearance since a celebrity magazine on Friday published photos it said showed Hollande making a nocturnal visit to a lover. The saga took a surprise new turn on Sunday when it emerged that his long-term partner, Valerie Trierweiler, had been admitted to hospital in a state of shock. "This major political event must remain a major political event," David Assouline, spokesman for Hollande's Socialist party, said of the 4:30 p.m. (10.30 a.m. ET) news conference, an annual setpiece which could go on as long as two hours. Full Story | Top |
| World powers, Iran eye February start to nuclear settlement talks Monday, Jan 13, 2014 02:50 PM PST By Justyna Pawlak BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Big powers and Iran are likely to start talks on a final settlement to the long dispute over its nuclear ambitions in February, shortly after a six-month deal curbing its atomic activity takes effect, a diplomatic source said on Monday. If successful, the next round of negotiations could head off the risk of lingering mistrust spiraling out of control into a wider Middle East war over the Islamic republic's nuclear program. Led by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the talks will face the challenge of defining a permissible scope of Iranian nuclear activity that would lay to rest Western concerns that it could yield an atomic weapon. In return, Iran - which denies having any intention to "weaponise" the enrichment of uranium for nuclear energy - wants governments in the United States and Europe to end painful economic sanctions. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. has concerns about Iran-Russia oil-for-goods swap reports Monday, Jan 13, 2014 02:41 PM PST By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it was concerned about a recent report that Iran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billion a month, a deal a spokeswoman said could trigger U.S. sanctions. Such a deal would significantly boost Iran's oil exports, which have been slashed by more than half to about 1 million barrels a day by U.S. and European economic sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to accept curbs to its nuclear program. Russian and Iranian sources close to the barter negotiations said the deal could see Russia buy as much as 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods. "We are concerned about these reports and Secretary (of State John) Kerry directly expressed this concern with (Russian) Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov today," Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Egyptians vote in constitutional referendum seen boosting Sisi Monday, Jan 13, 2014 02:18 PM PST  By Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians vote on Tuesday in a constitutional referendum, the first ballot since the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Mursi and an event likely to spawn a presidential bid by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Few doubt that Egyptians, who staged mass protests against Mursi's rule before his ouster, will turn out in big numbers and vote "yes" in the two-day referendum, a milestone in the army-backed government's political road map. Sisi deposed Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected head of state, in July. His Islamist foes see Sisi as the mastermind of a coup that kindled the worst internal strife in Egypt's modern history and brought back what critics call a police state. Full Story | Top |
| Obama urges Congress to avoid new sanctions on Iran Monday, Jan 13, 2014 01:33 PM PST President Barack Obama urged Congress on Monday to resist the temptation to approve new economic sanctions against Iran and said lawmakers instead should give diplomacy and peace a chance to work. Many in the Senate are eager to back new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, a move the White House fears would upset delicate diplomatic efforts with Tehran that just recently led to an interim agreement. Obama raised the issue of Iran himself in speaking to reporters during an Oval Office appearance with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Obama said an interim agreement reached between Iran and world powers, including the United States, is going to be difficult and challenging. Full Story | Top |
| German diplomats survive shooting attack in Saudi Arabia Monday, Jan 13, 2014 01:10 PM PST Two German diplomats survived a shooting attack on their car while on a visit to eastern Saudi Arabia on Monday, the state news agency SPA reported, but their vehicle was burned. SPA quoted a police spokesman as saying that authorities were investigating the rare incident, which took place in the town of Awamiya on Monday evening. Full Story | Top |
| Colombian official confirms ouster of Bogota's leftist mayor Monday, Jan 13, 2014 12:54 PM PST  By Helen Murphy BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's inspector general confirmed on Monday the ouster of Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro, despite weeks of protest over the move and widespread support for the former leftist rebel. Petro appealed the December 9 decision, and has since rallied tens of thousands to central Plaza Bolivar to protest his removal from Colombia's second-most powerful post and a 15-year ban from holding political office. The nation's chief inspector, Alejandro Ordonez, rejected the appeal on Monday, saying its disciplinary chamber had found him responsible for "three serious errors in the implementation of the new cleanup model in the city of Bogota." Ordonez removed Petro from office after ruling the mayor mishandled changes to garbage collection in the city of 8 million. Ordonez said it created a health hazard as rubbish piled up on the streets in 2012. Full Story | Top |
| Credible reports of Congo's defeated M23 rebels regrouping: U.N. Monday, Jan 13, 2014 11:57 AM PST  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Congolese rebel group M23 appears to be regrouping just two months after the Tutsi-led insurgency was defeated by Congolese troops and U.N. peacekeepers, the top U.N. official in the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Monday. Martin Kobler told the U.N. Security Council there were "credible reports of emerging M23 activities in Ituri in northeastern Congo" and called on the Congolese government to speed up the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-M23 fighters, who ended their 20-month revolt in November. "At the same time, I call upon the governments of Uganda and Rwanda to do everything possible to prevent M23 elements from sheltering or training troops on their territory. Full Story | Top |
| Sharon funeral highlights conflicting views of Israeli leader Monday, Jan 13, 2014 11:06 AM PST By Matt Spetalnick SYCAMORE FARM, Israel (Reuters) - Israel buried former prime minister Ariel Sharon at his family farm on Monday, celebrating the military achievements of a man regarded as a war hero at home but as a war criminal by many in the Arab world. Eulogized first in a ceremony in Jerusalem, and later in the green fields of his estate, speakers hailed a life entwined with that of Israel since its 1948 creation, gently alluding as well to the controversies that also defined his career. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former British prime minister Tony Blair laid wreaths at his grave, 10 km (6 miles) from the border of the Gaza Strip, with the army on high alert lest any rockets be fired out of the Palestinian territory. Two missiles were launched into southern Israel soon after the funeral ended, the army said. Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic's new leader orders security crackdown Monday, Jan 13, 2014 11:05 AM PST  By Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's new interim leader ordered the deployment of hundreds more troops in the capital Bangui on Monday with instructions to shoot troublemakers "at point blank range" in a bid to end months of religious violence. Fighting, attacks on mosques and the looting of Muslim-owned shops have persisted in Bangui since the resignation of rebel leader-turned-president Michel Djotodia last Friday under intense international pressure. Djotodia seized power last March at the head of the Muslim Seleka rebel coalition, unleashing a wave of killings and looting targeting the majority Christian population which in turn sparked revenge attacks by "anti-balaka" Christian militia. A Red Cross official said its workers had collected 39 bodies from the streets of Bangui since Friday. Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian leader signs anti-gay law, drawing U.S. fire Monday, Jan 13, 2014 10:59 AM PST  By Felix Onuah ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed a bill on Monday that criminalizes same-sex relationships, defying Western pressure over gay rights and provoking criticism from the United States. The bill, which contains penalties of up to 14 years in prison and bans gay marriage, same-sex "amorous relationships" and membership of gay rights groups, was passed by the national assembly last May but Jonathan had delayed signing it into law. Presidency spokesman Reuben Abati told Reuters he had now done so. As in much of sub-Saharan Africa, anti-gay sentiment and persecution of homosexuals is rife in Nigeria, so the new legislation is likely to be popular. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Erdogan may prevail at high cost in Turkey's political civil war Monday, Jan 13, 2014 10:41 AM PST  By Nick Tattersall and Asli Kandemir ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan looks to have the upper hand in a civil war rocking Turkey's political establishment, but his bid to break the influence of a potent Islamic cleric could roll back reforms and undermine hard-won business confidence. What erupted a month ago as a damaging inquiry into alleged government corruption has spiraled into a battle over the judiciary with potentially much further-reaching consequences for the country's international image and Erdogan's own future. "There is considerable risk of Turkey losing the gains in credibility and investment it has won in the past decade," a senior Turkish banker said, declining to be named for fear of repercussions for publicly criticizing the government. Despite fist fights in parliament, the opposition looks unable to prevent Erdogan's plan to put the appointment of judges, held to be under the sway of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, more under government control. Full Story | Top |
| Car bombs kill at least 25 people in Iraqi capital Monday, Jan 13, 2014 10:25 AM PST  Four car bombs killed at least 25 people in Shi'ite Muslim districts of Baghdad on Monday, police said, in violence that coincided with a visit to the Iraqi capital by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Although no group claimed responsibility, the bombings appeared to be part of a relentless campaign by al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim militants to undermine Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government. The deadliest attack occurred in the mainly Shi'ite neighborhood of Shaab in eastern Baghdad where a car bomb exploded in a commercial area, killing 11 people and wounding 28. Gunmen also attacked a checkpoint in southern Baghdad, killing three policemen and wounding four, police said. Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court will not hear Arizona abortion law appeal Monday, Jan 13, 2014 10:13 AM PST  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an appeals court ruling that said an Arizona law banning abortions starting at 20 weeks of gestation is unconstitutional, meaning the restrictive state law is struck down. The high court's decision not to hear the state's appeal means that a May 2013 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that invalidated the law, saying it violated "unalterably clear" legal precedents, remains intact. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, a Republican, signed the bill into law in April 2012. The last time the Supreme Court took up an abortion case was in 2007 when it ruled 5-4 to uphold a federal law that banned a late-term abortion procedure. Full Story | Top |
| EU's Ashton plans to visit Iran "in the next weeks" Monday, Jan 13, 2014 10:09 AM PST European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is coordinating talks between six world powers and Iran on its disputed nuclear program, said on Monday she would visit Tehran in the coming weeks. "It is my intention to visit in the next weeks," Ashton told a news conference in Kuwait with Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Hamad al-Sabah. Iran and the EU announced on Sunday that a deal between Iran and the six powers, intended to pave the way for a solution to the long standoff over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, would come into force on January 20. Full Story | Top |
| Monsanto critics denied U.S. Supreme Court hearing on seed patents Monday, Jan 13, 2014 10:05 AM PST  The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Monsanto Co's biotech seed patents on Monday, dealing a blow to a group of organic farmers and other activists trying to stop the biotech company from suing farmers if their fields contain a few plants containing the company's genetically modified traits. The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association and a group of dozens of organic and conventional family farmers, seed companies and public advocacy interests sued Monsanto in March 2011. The suit sought to prohibit the company from suing farmers whose fields became inadvertently contaminated with corn, soybeans, cotton, canola and other crops containing Monsanto's genetic modifications. Monsanto has genetically engineered its specialty seeds to withstand dousings of glyphosate, the main ingredient in the company's Roundup herbicide. Full Story | Top |
| EU citizens force water debate onto agenda Monday, Jan 13, 2014 08:58 AM PST By Barbara Lewis BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Water and who should provide it - the public or private sector - has become the first issue to be pushed onto Brussels' policy agenda via a new mechanism meant to involve ordinary people in EU decision-making. The EU Citizens' Initiative was introduced in 2012 following changes to the EU treaty that were designed to bring law-making closer to the EU's 500 million people. It gives citizens the right to make policy proposals on any issue as long as they have secured 1 million signatures spread across at least seven of the EU's 28 member states - although it does not guarantee lawmakers will pass legislation. A public hearing on the proposal, expected in February in the European Parliament, could be heated as some member states, such as Portugal, are aiming to sell off state water companies to pay off debt, while others already have private ownership. Full Story | Top |
| IAEA gains more Iran access, but not enough for bomb probe Monday, Jan 13, 2014 08:41 AM PST  By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog's increased access in Iran to monitor a landmark agreement with world powers still falls short of what it says it needs to investigate suspicions that Tehran may have worked on designing an atomic bomb. It is also a far cry from the wide-ranging inspection powers the International Atomic Energy Agency had in Iraq in the 1990s to help unearth and dismantle Saddam Hussein's clandestine nuclear program after the first Gulf war. Nevertheless, the IAEA will see its role in Iran expand significantly under the November 24 interim accord between the country and the six major powers, the implementation of which will start next Monday. Since the deal is only preliminary, the IAEA and its investigation may gain more prominence in later talks on a final settlement of the decade-old dispute over Iran's nuclear program, but it remains to be seen how far it will go. Full Story | Top |
| India anti-graft party shelves foreign supermarket entry into Delhi Monday, Jan 13, 2014 08:37 AM PST  By Manoj Kumar NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The newly elected provincial government in India's national capital on Monday barred foreign supermarkets from setting up shop, a blow to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's efforts to attract overseas investment and revive the economy. Singh had thrown open the country's $500 billion retail industry to foreign investors in late 2012, allowing companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Tesco PLC to own a majority stake in local chains for the first time. But the policy was pushed through in the teeth of fierce opposition from domestic retailers and political parties, who said it would cause mass job losses in a sector that is mostly dominated by small, family run shops. Moreover, strict sourcing norms and a requirement that companies must ask permission from local state governments before opening stores have made most supermarket giants wary. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan lawmaker arrested for private dungeon, attack on police Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:46 AM PST The dungeon only came to light after private guards working for the lawmaker, Abdul Rehman Khetran, attacked police at a checkpoint on Sunday, beat them up and stole their weapons. The police then raided the lawmaker's fortified home in lawless Baluchistan province, freed the prisoners, including one woman, and arrested Khetran, his son and six private guards, said Barkhan district police chief Abdul Ghafoor Marri. His wife is also a lawmaker. Full Story | Top |
| UAE premier: Egypt's Sisi could run as a civilian Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:11 AM PST  The United Arab Emirates prime minister said on Monday Egypt's army chief should not run as a military man for president, but if he stood as a civilian that would be a personal matter, the Gulf state's official news agency reported. A story outlining the views of premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum appeared on the WAM agency several hours after he gave an interview to the BBC, in which he was quoted as saying Sisi was better off staying in the military than running for president. The UAE, along with the Gulf's dominant Sunni Muslim state Saudi Arabia, championed army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after he deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi last year. They have since given Egypt billions of dollars in economic aid. Full Story | Top |
| Pope calls for renewed political will to end Syrian conflict Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:09 AM PST  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Monday called for renewed political will to end the conflict in Syria and lamented a "general indifference" to the plight of refugees around the world. In his first "State of the World" address to diplomats from 180 countries accredited to the Vatican, Francis also spoke of his concern over violence in Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and parts of Africa. Full Story | Top |
| Iraq's Maliki to revive Sunni militia role against al Qaeda Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:07 AM PST By Suadad al-Salhy and Alistair Lyon BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, in a striking change of course, is embracing the Sunni Muslim tribal fighters whose role in combating al Qaeda he had allowed to wither after U.S. troops left two years ago. Al Qaeda-linked militants, feeding off widespread Sunni resentment at perceived mistreatment by his Shi'ite-led government, swept into the cities of Falluja and Ramadi two weeks ago in an embarrassing setback to Maliki. Maliki has used al Qaeda's resurgence to muster foreign support for his government, which has otherwise disappointed the United States and allies by moving close to Iran and its failure to forge consensus with the once-dominant Sunni minority. "We are happy that the whole world stood by us in an unprecedented way," the 63-year-old Maliki, who has been in office since 2006, told Reuters on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| Two protesters killed in clash with South African police Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:07 AM PST Two people were killed during a clash with South African police on Monday when residents of a village marched to a nearby town in North West province to protest about water shortages, police said. The incident is the latest in a series of confrontations between police and protesters angry at poor public services in Africa's biggest economy, adding to pressure on President Jacob Zuma's government ahead of elections in about four months. It was not clear if the police had used live ammunition or rubber bullets to quell the protest, which was triggered by a water shortage. Full Story | Top |
| Thai government backs-up amid Bangkok shutdown Monday, Jan 13, 2014 04:55 AM PST By Andrew R.C. Marshall BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai Foreign Ministry once occupied a neoclassical palace built for a revered 19th-century king. To find the ministry today, you must search the corridors of a half-deserted Bangkok convention center for a modest room where top officials relocated on Monday to avoid citywide protests - one of many back-up arrangements for a government struggling to fend off protesters besieging the capital. "We roam around," said Sek Wannamethee, director-general of the ministry's information department, with a mirthless laugh. "Tomorrow we might have to find another place." That's because the convention center sits next door to Thailand's stock exchange, which protesters have threatened to target next as part of their two-month-old campaign to topple caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government. Full Story | Top |
| EU sanctions relief for Iran to go fully into effect on January 20 Monday, Jan 13, 2014 04:53 AM PST BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - European Union governments will implement all EU sanctions relief for Iran covered by a landmark nuclear deal on January 20, the day the agreement takes effect - including lifting a ban on insuring its oil, officials said on Monday. The accord will go into effect next Monday provided the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, confirms Iran is carrying out its part of the deal, meaning curbing its most sensitive nuclear work. The deal also allows third-country purchases of Iranian oil to remain at current levels but does not envisage higher Iranian oil sales. Full Story | Top |
| Hungary PM to meet Russia's Putin, nuclear deal likely Monday, Jan 13, 2014 04:43 AM PST  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Moscow on Tuesday, the Kremlin said on Monday, and a diplomatic source said they were likely to sign a nuclear cooperation deal. Hungarian daily Nepszabadsag reported on Saturday that Hungary could soon sign a deal for Russia's state-owned Rosatom to build new blocks at the 2-gigawatt Paks nuclear power plant south of Budapest. The Kremlin said in a statement the two countries were holding "substantial discussions" on nuclear energy cooperation in view of Hungary's plans to expand its capacity but it provided no details on the agenda of Tuesday's talks. Full Story | Top |
| India breaks free of polio in boost to global immunization drive Monday, Jan 13, 2014 04:36 AM PST  By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India on Monday marked three years since its last reported case of polio, paving the way for it to be declared free of the crippling virus and boosting efforts to wipe out the disease globally, the Organization (WHO) said. The country's last case of the wild polio virus was detected on Jan 13, 2011, in a two-year-old girl in the state of West Bengal. Three years without any new cases means India can be declared polio-free. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria are the only countries in the world where the disease remains endemic. Full Story | Top |
| After North Korea, emotional Rodman urges no politics for a day Monday, Jan 13, 2014 03:54 AM PST  By Megha Rajagopalan BEIJING (Reuters) - Retired U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman appealed on Monday for the world to set aside politics, if only for a day, as he arrived in China from North Korea where he sparked an outcry with comments over an American imprisoned there. The 52-year-old angered many people in the United States with an interview last week in which he implied that Kenneth Bae, a U.S. missionary imprisoned by North Korea, was to blame for his incarceration rather than authorities there. Rodman, who calls himself a friend of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, apologized for the comments made during his visit to North Korea with a group of fellow U.S. basketball players. "I'm not the president, I'm not an ambassador, I'm Dennis Rodman, just an individual, just showing the world a fact that we can actually get along and be happy for one day." He then appeared to be overcome with emotion and seemed to start crying as he moved away from the media, repeating "I'm sorry". Full Story | Top |
| Dubai ruler calls for Iran sanctions to be lifted: BBC Monday, Jan 13, 2014 03:50 AM PST  The ruler of Dubai, a Gulf trade and investment hub with strong links to Iran, said in remarks broadcast on Monday that the international community should ease sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Under a deal struck in November, Iran is expected to curb its nuclear activity in exchange for a limited easing of the international sanctions. The pact will come into force January 20, Iran and world powers agreed on Sunday. Asked whether he thought it was time to lift the sanctions, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, told British broadcaster the BBC: "I think so and give Iran a space... Iran is our neighbor and we don't want any problem, he said, adding that "everybody will benefit". Full Story | Top |
| No resistance as crowds occupy Thai capital in festive protest Monday, Jan 13, 2014 03:42 AM PST By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters occupied parts of central Bangkok on Monday, ratcheting up a two-month agitation to force the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and meeting no resistance. Police and soldiers maintained a low profile as the "Shutdown Bangkok" drive got under way in the city of about 12 million people. The mood was festive, with many protesters singing and dancing in the streets. "Don't ask me how long this occupation will last," protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said in a speech to supporters carried by the movement's BlueSky television channel. Full Story | Top |
| North Yemen strife has killed at least 210, Salafis say Monday, Jan 13, 2014 03:26 AM PST  At least 210 people have been killed in two months of fighting between Shi'ite Muslim Houthis and ultra-conservative Sunni Salafis in northern Yemen, a Salafi spokesman said on Monday. The violence erupted on October 30 when the Houthi rebels who control much of the northern Saada province accused Salafis in the town of Damaj of recruiting thousands of foreign fighters to prepare to attack them. The Salafis, who follow a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam, say the foreigners are students seeking to deepen their knowledge of Islam in the town's Dar al-Hadith seminary. Surour al-Wadi'i, a Salafi spokesman, said the death toll among Salafis had risen to 210, with 620 wounded. Full Story | Top |
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