| | |
| Venezuela shuffles economic team, keeps forex rate Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 07:44 PM PST  By Eyanir Chinea and Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro named an army general as the new finance minister in a reshuffle of his economic team on Wednesday and said there would be no currency devaluation this year despite a soaring black market for dollars. The cabinet changes do not suggest any major shift in the country's state-dominated economy, as the new economic team retains many of the same policy-makers that helped the late Hugo Chavez advance the OPEC nation's drive toward socialism. Venezuela in 2013 saw slowing economic growth and soaring inflation that Maduro blames on an opposition-backed "economic war" but that critics call the result of decaying price and currency controls now widely linked to corruption. Maduro tasked new finance minister Rodolfo Marco with "building a new financial model that can allow for all these investments we need, that will allow the expansion of a financial system at the service of the country." Marco, who participated in the failed 1992 coup that thrust Chavez to fame and did jail time with him afterwards, previously held the post of Public Banks Minister, which will now be merged with the finance ministry. Full Story | Top |
| Pacific trade talks fall short on environmental protection: groups Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 07:43 PM PST By Krista Hughes WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An ambitious trade pact being negotiated among Pacific Rim nations so far fails to properly protect endangered species and could undermine existing safeguards for the environment, environmental groups said on Wednesday. Documents released by the whistle-blowing group WikiLeaks show countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) did not plan to sanction trading partners who break environmental promises - an issue that has caused a rift between the United States and others in the bloc and is an obstacle to finalizing the deal. The TPP would cover almost 40 percent of the global economy and create a free trade zone reaching from North America to Japan and New Zealand, and the United States is keen to wrap up talks in the coming months. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to airlift Rwandan forces into Central African Republic Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 07:38 PM PST The U.S. military will soon begin flying Rwandan troops into the Central African Republic, possibly starting on Thursday, in its second such operation in support the African Union's efforts to stem bloodshed there, a U.S. official said on Wednesday. The airlift mission would be very similar to the one the United States carried out flying forces from Burundi into the Central African Republic late last year, the official said. The U.S. aircraft would fly out of Uganda into Rwanda's capital Kigali, where they would load before proceeding onto Bangui in the Central African Republic, the official said. A Muslim rebel coalition, Seleka, seized power in Central African Republic last spring, unleashing a wave of killings and looting that in turn sparked revenge attacks by the "anti-balaka" Christian militia. Full Story | Top |
| Reform or lose us as member, Britain's finance minister tells EU Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 07:13 PM PST  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Britain told its European Union partners on Wednesday the EU's treaties were "not fit for purpose" and there must be reform or it would quit the bloc. In the latest blast of euroscepticism from Conservatives in Britain's coalition government, finance minister George Osborne said EU treaties had to be changed to protect member states like his own that don't use the euro. The comments, made at a conference in London on reform of the 28-nation EU, are unlikely to be embraced by integrationists in Brussels, who want Britain to remain in the bloc but have become irritated by its demands for change. Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, accused countries like Britain that have questioned the bloc's freedom of movement rules of having a "narrow, chauvinistic idea of the protection" of their interests - an indication of how tough London may find it to win allies. Full Story | Top |
| North Korea warns South and U.S. over "provocative" drills Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 06:46 PM PST  North Korea has demanded that South Korea and the United States halt annual military drills due in February and March, saying they were a direct provocation, in a statement that suggested a re-run of a sharp escalation in tension last year. In 2013, North Korea said it would retaliate against any hostile moves by striking at the United States, Japan and South Korea, triggering a military buildup on the Korean peninsula and months of fiery rhetoric. The reclusive North has regularly denounced annual drills such as "Key Resolve" and "Ulchi-Freedom-Guardian" staged by South Korea and United States as a prelude to invasion. "We sternly warn the U.S. and the South Korean authorities to stop the dangerous military exercises which may push the situation on the peninsula and the north-south ties to a catastrophe," the North's KCNA state news quoted a body in charge of efforts to promote Korean unification as saying. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico vigilante leader wants cartel bosses dead, not captured Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 06:43 PM PST  By Simon Gardner LA RUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - A vigilante leader in a Mexican state torn by violence said on Wednesday it would be better to kill the heads of the region's dominant drug cartel than arrest them, and rejected a government order to disarm. Vigilantes have been battling the Knights Templar cartel in the western state of Michoacan for almost a year, creating a major security problem for President Enrique Pena Nieto. Federal security forces have turned a blind eye to the armed vigilantes despite calling on them to disarm. Reuters reporters saw police and army convoys steadily drive past sandbag roadblocks manned by members of Michoacan's so-called self-defense groups. Full Story | Top |
| Thai protesters target revenue offices, PM awaits graft ruling Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 06:18 PM PST  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Protesters in Thailand trying to paralyze ministries to force the government to resign said they would target revenue offices on Thursday, but their numbers appeared to be dwindling and ministers say the movement could be running out of steam. A state anti-corruption panel is due to give a ruling on Thursday on irregularities in a rice-buying scheme, that the government introduced to support farmers, that could give ammunition to opponents of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. ... Full Story | Top |
| China confirms hypersonic missile carrier test Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 06:05 PM PST China has flight-tested a hypersonic missile delivery vehicle in a move that was scientific in nature and not targeted at any country, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday. They are beefing up military spending and ties with Washington. "Our planned scientific research tests conducted in our territory are normal," the Beijing Defence Ministry said in a faxed response to Reuters. "These tests are not targeted at any country and at any specific goals." The statement confirmed a report by the online Washington Free Beacon newspaper that the hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) was detected flying at 10 times the speed of sound over China last week. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt voters overwhelmingly back constitution: official sources Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 05:03 PM PST  By Maggie Fick and Ali Abdelaty CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians who voted in a referendum overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, official sources said, citing early results of a ballot that could set the stage for army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to declare his candidacy for president. About 90 percent of voters approved the constitution, the state news agency and a government official said. It comes as no surprise: the constitution won wide support among Egyptians who backed the army overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi in July, and there was little or no trace of a no campaign as the state presses a campaign on dissent. Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, which is sure to dispute the official numbers, had called for a boycott of the two-day vote, seeing it as part of a coup against a leader freely elected 18 months ago. Full Story | Top |
| Chinese inexperience a factor in warships' near-miss : U.S. admiral Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 04:56 PM PST  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chinese operational inexperience and communications difficulties on both sides contributed to a near-collision between the USS Cowpens and a Chinese warship in the South China Sea last month, the head of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific said on Wednesday. Admiral Samuel Locklear, the head of U.S. Pacific Command, told a Navy conference the Cowpens, a guided missile cruiser, was monitoring China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, as it conducted operations in international waters for the first time when the incident occurred. "I believe that there was ... a lack of experience on some of their smaller ships and I think we have to understand that for now," Locklear told the Surface Navy Association during a question and answer session at its national symposium. Language barriers were also a factor, Locklear said, with U.S. sailors hailing the Chinese ship in English and the Chinese having to address the Americans in sometimes limited English. Full Story | Top |
| Wet, wetter; dry, drier: U.S. oceanographer has hit with climate-change haiku Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 04:28 PM PST  An American oceanographer who helped write an international report on climate change has condensed several of its key findings - such as how choices made today may shape the future world - into a collection of succinct poems in the Haiku style. The poems came to Gregory Johnson, a 20-year veteran of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as he pored over an executive summary of "Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis," while holed up in his Seattle home on a recent weekend with the flu, he said. "I thought that if I tried distilling these ideas into haiku, maybe that would help fix them in my mind," said Johnson, a lead author on the chapter of the report dealing with the effects of global warming on oceans. "This was not intended for anything but my own personal consumption." After penning the poems and painting watercolors accompanying each of them, Johnson, heartened by feedback from friends and family, agreed to publish them on the website of the Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based environmental policy think-tank. Full Story | Top |
| Alaska mine threatens salmon, native cultures -U.S. agency Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 04:14 PM PST  By Nicole Mordant VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed poses serious risks to salmon and native cultures in this pristine corner of southwest Alaska, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a report released on Wednesday. The EPA said a mine could destroy up to 94 miles of salmon-supporting streams and thousands of acres of wetlands, ponds and lakes. Polluted water from the mine site could enter streams, causing widespread damage in a region that produces nearly 50 percent of the world's wild sockeye salmon, the EPA said. The Bristol Bay region supports all five species of Pacific salmon found in North America, which include sockeye, Chinook, chum, coho and pink salmon. Full Story | Top |
| Saudi-Qatar rivalry divides Syrian opposition Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 03:49 PM PST  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Rivalry between Qatar and Saudi Arabia has fuelled wrangling within the Syrian opposition that threatens to prevent a united rebel delegation attending international peace talks next week. Sources in the Syrian National Coalition and diplomats from foreign powers backing the rebels said it remains unclear whether those divisions can be overcome by Friday, when the 120-member Coalition is expected to vote on whether to take part in the conference in Switzerland, known as Geneva-2. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spanish protesters riot in Madrid, 11 people hurt Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:49 PM PST  A Madrid demonstration in sympathy with protests in the northern Spanish city of Burgos against a local government plan to convert a street into a tree-lined boulevard turned violent on Wednesday, leading to 11 arrests and 11 injuries. Rioters tossed smoke bombs, threw chairs from street terraces and burned garbage containers in central Madrid after a march that began in the capital's Puerta del Sol square and ended near the ruling conservative People's Party (PP) central headquarters. It was one of 46 protests across Spanish cities on Wednesday against the state-financed project in Burgos that has stoked public fury. The local government has put the plan on hold in light of the protests. Full Story | Top |
| C.Africa Republic religious hatred was underestimated -France Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:42 PM PST  The level of hatred in Central African Republic between Muslims and Christians has been underestimated and is creating a "nearly impossible" situation for African Union and French forces to combat, France's U.N. envoy said on Wednesday. Speaking at a U.N. event about early warning signs for mass atrocities, Gerard Araud suggested the United Nations consider turning to psychologists or ethnologists to help understand and combat the deadly resentment because religious leaders' calls for calm were being ignored. Waves of massacres and reprisals by Muslim and Christian militias have killed hundreds, if not thousands, in Central African Republic since rebels seized power in March 2012, waking the world up to the fact that it might be witnessing the prelude to another Rwanda, where 800,000 were hacked, shot or clubbed to death in 100 days in 1994. France last year hurriedly deployed roughly 1,600 French troops to help a largely ineffective force of African peacekeepers, but they are too thinly spread to prevent tit-for-tat attacks. Full Story | Top |
| New video surfaces of U.S. prisoner from Afghan war Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:35 PM PST  A new video has surfaced showing Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier captured by militants while stationed in Afghanistan more than four years ago, the soldier's family said on Wednesday. "Today we learned that a new video of our son, U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, has been distributed by his captors," Bergdahl's family said in a statement relayed by the Idaho National Guard. Bergdahl was stationed in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan when he disappeared under unclear circumstances on June 30, 2009, about two months after arriving in Afghanistan. U.S. officials said Bergdahl appeared to be in 'declining health,' but not gravely ill, in the video, which U.S. officials believe was recorded within the last month. Full Story | Top |
| French companies, unions question Hollande's new vision Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:23 PM PST  By Mark John PARIS (Reuters) - French business raised doubts on Wednesday over Socialist President Francois Hollande's plan for public spending cuts and structural reform to revive the euro zone's second largest economy. His allies hailed a new "social democrat" vision for France but unions said they were worried about job cuts to the army of state sector workers and far-left politicians accused him of a sell-out as he moved towards the political center. Hollande, who has not denied magazine allegations last week of an affair with actress, deflected questions on his personal life at a marathon news conference on Tuesday unveiling plans to find at least 50 billion euros of spending cuts between 2015-2017 and cut corporate charges by 30 billion euros. While France's main employers' group broadly welcomed the plan, it rejected his call for companies to commit to specific targets for new hires. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt voters overwhelmingly approve constitution: government official Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:22 PM PST  Egyptian voters in a referendum held this week have overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, an Interior Ministry official said on Wednesday, a result that could pave the way for army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to announce his candidacy for president. "Turnout so far may exceed 55 percent and the approval of the constitution is perhaps more than 95 percent," Major General Abdel Fattah Othman, director of public relations for the ministry, told private satellite channel Al-Hayat. There was little or no trace of a campaign against the new constitution, which was supported by Egyptians who supported the army overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July. Full Story | Top |
| UN climate chief urges investors to bolster global warming fight Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 01:17 PM PST  By Valerie Volcovici NEW YORK (Reuters) - Institutional investors managing trillions of dollars should shift their portfolios away from fossil fuel investments toward cleaner energy sources to put a stop to the dangerous rise in global temperatures causing climate change, the United Nations' climate chief said on Wednesday. Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, told an investors conference at the United Nations that their investment decisions should reflect the latest scientific evidence of dangerous climate change to protect the health and financial savings of ordinary citizens well into the future. "Climate change increasingly poses one of the biggest long-term threats to those investments and the wealth of the global economy," Figueres added. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge allows Bin Laden driver testimony at Abu Ghaith trial Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 01:03 PM PST  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former driver for Osama bin Laden and a witness linked to plots to bomb U.S. airliners may testify by video at the U.S. trial of Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of bin Laden and former al Qaeda spokesman charged with conspiring to kill Americans and providing material support to terrorists. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan on Wednesday granted a defense motion to allow testimony from Salim Hamdan, perhaps best known as the plaintiff in a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision that found unconstitutional the military commissions set up for detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. According to Abu Ghaith's lawyers, Hamdan would testify that he never saw the defendant participate in any plotting, and that Abu Ghaith's inclusion on a "brevity card" that contained names of members of al Qaeda's inner circle would not necessarily suggest allegiance to al Qaeda. Full Story | Top |
| French trade delegation to visit Iran next month Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 12:48 PM PST A delegation of some of France's biggest companies will visit Iran next month to seek business as relations thaw with western powers, the head of the employers' union said on Wednesday. International sanctions on Iran are set to be relaxed in return for curbs on its nuclear activity under a deal Tehran struck last year with the United States, France, Russia, Britain, China and Germany. The prospect of an easing of trade restrictions has whetted the appetite of French firms eager to win back business in a country where some used to have extensive operations. The French Medef bosses' association has organized the visit for February 2-5, its president Pierre Gattaz told a news conference, confirming a report about the trip in the Wall Street Journal. Full Story | Top |
| Afghan president attacks U.S. over military operation Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 12:45 PM PST  Afghanistan's president attacked the United States over a military operation that killed civilians on Wednesday, underlining his growing rift with Washington. Hamid Karzai said U.S. forces were responsible for an air strike that left a woman and seven children dead. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated steadily over Karzai's long-standing refusal to sign a Bilateral Security Agreement that would help shape the U.S. military presence after 2014, when most other foreign troops are expected to leave. The NATO-led coalition ISAF, which is dominated by the United States, denied it had planned Wednesday's operation and said Afghan Special Forces had organised it. Full Story | Top |
| Afghanistan seeks help in drugs fight after opium crop hits record Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 12:00 PM PST  Afghanistan needs more financial assistance for its anti-narcotics fight after opium cultivation hit a record high last year, a government minister said on Wednesday, as international forces prepare to leave the country. Afghanistan is the world's top cultivator of the poppy, from which opium and heroin are produced. "To convince the Afghan farmers to stop cultivating poppy we need to provide them with alternative livelihoods," Din Mohammad Mobariz Rashidi, minister of counter narcotics, said after talks with U.N. anti-drugs chief Yury Fedotov. He said there was also a need for "severe punishment" of traffickers, adding: "I hope that in 2014 we will witness a declining trend in both cultivation and production of opium." It remains to be seen how donors will react to Afghanistan's funding request. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers, frustrated by South Sudan violence, question aid Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 11:37 AM PST  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers expressed deep frustration on Wednesday over the wave of violence in South Sudan, questioning whether it made sense for Washington to continue sending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the fledgling democracy. Four weeks of fighting, often along ethnic lines, has been ringing alarm bells in Washington over the prospect that the conflict could spiral into full-blown civil war, spawning atrocities or making South Sudan the world's next failed state. U.S. Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the latest fighting "infuriating," and blamed it largely on South Sudanese leaders' unwillingness to build an inclusive state. "It appears that the greatest threat to South Sudan post-independence is South Sudan itself," the California Republican said at a hearing on the turmoil. Full Story | Top |
| Iraq draft budget intensifies Kurd oil export row Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 11:05 AM PST Iraqi Kurdish ministers walked out of a cabinet session on Wednesday in protest at the country's draft 2014 budget, further complicating a feud over the autonomous region's plans to export crude via a new pipeline to Turkey. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said last week that crude had begun to flow through the pipeline, and exports were on track to start at the end of January, inviting bidders to register with the Kurdistan Oil Marketing Organisation (KOMO). Baghdad rejected that as a violation of the constitution and on Wednesday reiterated that Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) had exclusive rights to sell crude from Kurdistan and the rest of the country. The draft budget requires the Kurds to export 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) -- well above the region's current export capacity -- and says Baghdad will deduct any shortfall from the 17 percent share of state revenues to which they are entitled. Full Story | Top |
| ICC excuses Kenya's deputy president from big parts of Hague trial Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 10:51 AM PST  By Thomas Escritt AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - International Criminal Court judges excused Kenyan deputy president William Ruto from large parts of his trial on charges of crimes against humanity on Wednesday in a ruling that could help defuse tensions with Kenya's African allies. Ruto and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta face separate charges of orchestrating ethnic violence that swept East Africa's economic powerhouse after the country's 2007 elections, when 1,200 people were killed. Ruto has been flying from Kenya to the court's Hague-based headquarters to attend hearings since his trial began in September, requesting leave of absence from judges if he needed to remain at home to attend to his constitutional duties. The court's 122 state parties agreed to relax court attendance conditions for sitting heads of states and their deputies after a concerted lobbying campaign by Kenya and its African Union allies. Full Story | Top |
| Syria builds dollar reserves, thanks partly to Assad's enemies Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 10:48 AM PST  By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria's central bank has bought hundreds of millions of dollars from the domestic currency market it now tightly controls, helping to build up depleted reserves for an economy crippled by civil war, bankers and dealers say. After jailing dozens of dealers in a black market crackdown, Damascus has pulled off the purchases without provoking a new collapse of the Syrian pound - thanks partly to dollars pumped into rebel areas by President Bashar al-Assad's enemies. Relative stability of the local currency has helped the authorities to prevent a further jump in inflation which could undermine support in areas it controls, and eased economic pressure on the government before it attends talks in Switzerland next week on a political solution to the war. "In the last three months, the central bank has bought more dollars than it is selling," said a banker in a local private bank familiar with central bank thinking, who estimates between $5 million and $10 million are bought daily. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. troops fired warning shots to protect South Sudan compound Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 10:45 AM PST U.N. peacekeepers fired warning shots to deter fighters from a United Nations base in South Sudan after gunfire reached the compound, wounding dozens and killing at least one civilian seeking refuge there, a U.N. spokesman said on Wednesday. The incident took place on Tuesday at the U.N. peacekeeping base in Malakal, a major transit point and administrative center of oil-producing Upper Nile State, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters. "One civilian seeking shelter in (the U.N.) Malakal base, in Upper Nile State, was killed by bullets after gunfire entered the U.N. base there yesterday," he said. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. nuclear agency board to meet next week on Iran deal Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 10:33 AM PST  The 35-nation governing board of the U.N. nuclear agency will meet next week to discuss its role in verifying the implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, it said on Wednesday. Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he had requested a board meeting to be held on January 24, four days after the six-month accord is due to start taking effect. The IAEA will have a pivotal role in checking that Iran lives up to its part of the deal with the United States, France, Russia, Britain, China and Germany to curb its nuclear activity in return for some sanctions easing. Diplomats say the IAEA, which will increase the frequency of inspections in Iran, is likely to need to send more staff there and faces extra costs of roughly 5 million euros, some of which will need to be funded through voluntary member state contributions. Full Story | Top |
| Franco-German energy plan to focus on renewables, not mergers Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 10:19 AM PST By Julien Ponthus and Geert De Clercq PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande's surprise announcement of a Franco-German energy joint venture did not target major utilities but renewable energy and electricity networks, his aides said on Wednesday. A top government source told Reuters a joint French-German cabinet meeting on February 19 in Paris will discuss cooperation in renewable energy following Hollande's proposal on Tuesday. Ministers will also discuss smart grids, energy efficiency and electricity storage in response to Hollande's call, made at his New Year news conference, for a Franco-German energy firm modeled on aerospace group Airbus. Hollande's plan baffled French and German industrialists and raised eyebrows in Berlin, but the source said Hollande had discussed energy cooperation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to Paris on December 18. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chief Ban fears Nigeria anti-gay law will fuel violence Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 10:02 AM PST  U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern on Wednesday at a new Nigerian law that criminalizes same-sex relationships, which he fears could fuel prejudice and violence and risks obstructing an effective HIV/AIDS response. 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 and signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday. "The Secretary-General fears that the law may fuel prejudice and violence, and notes with alarm reports that police in northern Nigeria have arrested individuals believed by the authorities to be homosexuals, and may even have tortured them," Ban's press office said in a statement. 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 |
| Shootout with militants in Russia kills seven before Olympics Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 09:48 AM PST By Maria Kiselyova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Three members of the Russian security forces and four gunmen were killed in a shootout on Wednesday during a sweep for Islamist militants who have threatened to attack the Winter Olympics that begin in Sochi next month. After two suicide bombings in southern Russia last month, Moscow is on high security alert. President Vladimir Putin has staked much personal and political prestige on the success of the Games, and put security forces on combat footing in Sochi. Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) said the dead militants included a man accused of carrying out a car bomb attack in the city of Pyatigorsk late last year which killed three people. Full Story | Top |
| Damascus says West reaches out on security Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 09:44 AM PST Some Western nations opposed to President Bashar al-Assad have discussed security cooperation with his government, Syria said on Wednesday, a move which if true would suggest a rise in Western concerns about foreign militants in rebel ranks. The top U.S. and French diplomats both said they were personally unaware of such contacts but did not go so far as to deny that any had taken place. Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said several Western intelligence services had visited Damascus for discussions. His comments were broadcast a day after the Wall Street Journal reported that French and Spanish spy services had made contact with Assad's government. Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain crown prince meets opposition on ending political deadlock Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 09:07 AM PST  Bahrain's crown prince met the Shi'ite Muslim opposition leader on Wednesday in search of a way out of a three-year political deadlock, a week after reconciliation talks were suspended in a setback for efforts to stabilize the U.S.-allied Gulf state. The breakdown in the reconciliation process raised jitters in the tiny Gulf Arab island monarchy in the middle of a regional tussle for influence between Shi'ite Iran and Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia. The meeting between Crown Prince Salman al-Khalifa and opposition chief Sheikh Ali Salman was the first since shortly after major unrest among majority Shi'ites demanding democratic reforms and a bigger say in government broke out in early 2011. Al Wefaq said the meeting was held on the crown prince's initiative to "study ways (to have) a serious dialogue that would result in a new political framework that shapes a comprehensive solution". Full Story | Top |
| Violence kills 75 in Iraq, PM seeks world's support Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 08:42 AM PST By Alistair Lyon BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bomb attacks and shootings killed at least 75 people in Iraq on Wednesday, police and hospital sources said, making it one of the bloodiest days in months. In the deadliest incident, a bomb blew up in a funeral tent where mourners were marking the death two days ago of a Sunni Muslim pro-government militiaman, police said. In northwestern Iraq, assailants detonated roadside bombs near a bridge in Ain al-Jahash, 60 km (37 miles) south of Mosul as an army patrol was crossing it. Gunmen killed seven truck drivers, kidnapped two and set three trucks ablaze in the mainly Shi'ite district of Maamil in Baghdad's eastern outskirts, police said. Full Story | Top |
| West Virginia AG vows probe after chemical spill fouls water Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 08:36 AM PST West Virginia's top law enforcement officer on Wednesday vowed a full investigation of a chemical spill that contaminated tap water for hundreds of thousands of people. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said there was a lot of speculation surrounding the spill into the Elk River at Charleston, the state capital, on Thursday that shut off water to more than 300,000 people. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia also are investigating the leak of about 7,500 gallons (28,000 liters) of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, or crude MCHM, into the river. About 52,000 water customers have been cleared to drink or wash with tap water as of Wednesday, according to a statement by West Virginia American Water. Full Story | Top |
| Western, Arab states pledge $2.4 billion in Syria aid Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 08:33 AM PST  By Sylvia Westall and Warren Strobel KUWAIT (Reuters) - Western and Gulf Arab nations pledged more than $2.4 billion on Wednesday for U.N. aid efforts in Syria, where a near three-year civil war has left millions of people hungry, ailing or displaced. The pledge arose from a U.N. appeal for $6.5 billion in 2014, which was launched last month and is the largest in the organization's history. The world body estimates the conflict has reversed development gains in Syria by 35 years, with half its people now living in poverty. But only around 70 percent of $1.5 billion pledged at a similar meeting last year has reached U.N. coffers, hinting at donor fatigue with no end to the bloodshed on the horizon. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. says surveillance drone in Congo slips off runway Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 08:11 AM PST An unmanned aircraft used by U.N. peacekeepers in Democratic Republic of Congo slipped off the runway on Wednesday near the eastern town of Goma, the head of the U.N. mission said. The drone would need to be repaired before it could fly again but none of the surveillance equipment seemed to have been damaged, Martin Kobler, head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission, said in New York. The United Nations force started using drones - a first for the world body - last month to help it monitor armed groups operating along Congo's border zone with Rwanda and Uganda. Earlier, a senior official in Congo's interior ministry earlier told Reuters the drone crashed shortly after taking off from Goma. Full Story | Top |
| Car bomb kills 26 in northern Syria, activists blame al Qaeda Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 08:04 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb planted by rebels linked to al Qaeda killed at least 26 people in Syria's northern city of Jarablus on Wednesday, most of them rival opposition fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syria's rebel-held northern and eastern territories are mired in the worst episode of internecine clashes since the nearly 3-year-old uprising began, with hundreds killed in over a week of fighting between an alliance of rebel groups and an al Qaeda affiliated group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ... Full Story | Top |
| Global press group visits Britain over newspaper freedom fears Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 07:58 AM PST  By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - A global media organization began its first press freedom mission to Britain on Wednesday over concerns about the government's plans to regulate newspapers and its response to the Edward Snowden revelations. The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), based in Paris, said it would be holding meetings with Culture Secretary Maria Miller as part of a visit to Britain to discuss "worrying developments". It said its previous press freedom missions had been undertaken in countries such as South Africa, Libya, Yemen, Azerbaijan and Myanmar, but never before in Britain. "The British government's actions have far reaching consequences across the globe - particularly within the Commonwealth - and any threats to the independence of journalism in Britain could be used by repressive regimes worldwide to justify their own controls over the press." British newspapers have reacted with alarm and anger to plans for a new regulatory system proposed by the government in the wake of a phone-hacking scandal centered around the British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The new measures approved last October followed a public inquiry into the press launched in 2011 after revelations that staff at Murdoch's now defunct tabloid the News of the World had illegally intercepted voicemail messages on mobile phones, including those of a murdered schoolgirl. Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment