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| U.S. denies it sought direct negotiations with Syria in Geneva Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 08:10 PM PST  WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Washington denied claims by Syria's foreign minister on Saturday that American diplomats had sought to negotiate directly with their Syrian counterparts at last week's 'Geneva 2' peace conference in Switzerland. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States had offered to connect with Syrian officials "on a staff level" through the United Nations and Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi. Full Story | Top |
| Afghan election campaign stirs both violence and hope Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 07:59 PM PST  By Jessica Donati and Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Presidential candidates in Afghanistan begin two months of campaigning on Sunday for an election that Western allies hope will consolidate fragile stability as their forces prepare to leave after nearly 13 years of inconclusive war. The Taliban have rejected the April 5 election and have already stepped up attacks to sabotage it. The militants will also be looking to capitalize if the vote is marred by rigging and feuding between rivals seeking to replace President Hamid Karzai, who can not run for a third term under Afghan law. Whoever replaces him will inherit a country beset by deepening anxiety about security as most foreign troops prepare to pull out by the end of the year, leaving Afghan forces largely on their own to battle the insurgency. Full Story | Top |
| Thai vote starts peacefully, but political paralysis looms Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 07:57 PM PST  By Martin Petty BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand went to the polls under heavy security on Sunday in an election that could push the divided country deeper into political turmoil and leave the winner paralyzed for months by street protests, legal challenges and legislative limbo. Voting started peacefully a day after seven people were wounded by gunshots and explosions during a clash between supporters and opponents of embattled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in a north Bangkok stronghold of her Puea Thai Party. Voting was called off in the district and some other polling stations were unable to open because of pressure by anti-government protesters. "The protesters are rallying peacefully to show their opposition to this election." The usual campaign billboards, glossy posters and pre-election buzz have been notably absent, as will be millions of voters fearful of violence or bent on rejecting a ballot bound to re-elect the political juggernaut controlled by Yingluck's billionaire brother, Thaksin Shinawatra. Full Story | Top |
| New Orleans mayor wins re-election, local media projects Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 07:26 PM PST  NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu won enough votes on Saturday to avoid a runoff in his re-election bid, the Times-Picayune newspaper and other local media projected. Landrieu had 65 percent of the vote against two challengers with 50 percent of precincts reporting, according to preliminary results from the website of the Louisiana Secretary of State. He needs over 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff election. (Reporting by Kathy Finn, Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Full Story | Top |
| After bridge scandal, New Jersey Governor Christie booed at Super Bowl event Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 07:00 PM PST  By Victoria Cavaliere and Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was greeted with audible boos and a few loud cheers during a Super Bowl-related appearance in New York City on Saturday, a day after a former appointee said the popular Republican knew about politically motivated lane closures near a busy commuter bridge. The Super Bowl will be played on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The governor's introduction was met with a chorus of audible boos and chants of support from the thousands of people gathered in the area for a Super Bowl street fair. He did not mention the scandal during brief remarks in which he thanked the NFL and his New York counterpart and Super Bowl co-host, Governor Andrew Cuomo. Full Story | Top |
| Corporates cheer as India's oil minister takes charge of green clearances Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 06:26 PM PST  By Frank Jack Daniel and Nidhi Verma NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Veerappa Moily has two seemingly incompatible jobs. As oil minister, he has overseen India's petroleum and natural gas needs. But now he also runs the environment ministry, where he has issued permits for 100 stalled projects in a month-long spree that has delighted industry but shocked green activists. Since taking the additional environment portfolio on December 24, he has given his go-ahead to projects worth some $40 billion, including Posco's $12.6 billion steel plant and forest clearances for India's first major hydropower projects in the wilderness state of Arunachal Pradesh, near a contested border with China. Full Story | Top |
| China says Japan's 'hype' on air defence zone spreads tension Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 06:23 PM PST China does not feel threatened by countries in Southeast Asia and is optimistic about the situation in the disputed South China Sea, the Foreign Ministry said, warning Japan not to "spread rumors" it plans a new air defense identification zone. China alarmed Japan, South Korea and the United States last year when it announced an air defense identification zone for the East China Sea, covering a group of uninhabited islands at the center of a bitter ownership spat between China and Japan. Full Story | Top |
| George Zimmerman says celebrity boxing match in his future, at least once Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 05:28 PM PST  By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of second-degree murder last year in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, plans to take up celebrity boxing and is on the lookout for an opponent, the website Radar Online reported. Zimmerman, 30, linked to the Radar Online report in a post on his Twitter account with the words, "Here we go." Promoter Damon Feldman is behind the celebrity boxing match, set to take place on March 1, according to Radar Online. "Boxing isn't new to me," Zimmerman told Radar Online in an article posted on the celebrity news outlet's website last week. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox - Thailand's election in numbers Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 05:23 PM PST - Thailand started voting on Sunday in an election called by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in December in an attempt to defuse protests aimed at overthrowing her. The main opposition Democrat Party is boycotting the election. THE VOTERS - There are 49 million eligible voters for 375 constituencies. - Bangkok, dominated by the Democrat Party in the last election in 2011, has 33 constituencies. Full Story | Top |
| Video shows beheading of man in Syria by al Qaeda rebels Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 04:37 PM PST Rebels in Syria with ties to al Qaeda have decapitated a man believed to have been a pro-government Shi'ite fighter, an amateur video of the public beheading posted to the Internet on Saturday showed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group which posted the video, said the beheading was conducted by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a foreign-led group fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad and establish an Islamic emirate in Syria. The Britain-based Observatory, which opposes Assad and has an extensive network of sources across Syria, said the video was taken in the central province of Homs. Hard-line Islamist rebels with links to al Qaeda have come to dominate the largely Sunni Muslim insurgency against Assad, who is supported by members of his minority Alawite sect - an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam - as well as Shi'ite fighters from Iraq and Lebanon's Hezbollah. Full Story | Top |
| N.J.'s Christie denies prior knowledge of bridge lane closings Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 03:53 PM PST New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Friday said that a letter from a former Port Authority official confirmed he had no prior knowledge of the bridge traffic jam that sparked a political scandal. Full Story | Top |
| Christie issues denial as 'Bridgegate' scandal flares up anew Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 03:53 PM PST By Edith Honan and Chris Francescani NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former New Jersey official on Friday claimed Governor Chris Christie knew about politically motivated traffic jams as they happened, re-igniting a political scandal that has taken a toll on the prominent Republican. The letter from a former official at the agency that oversees the busiest U.S. bridge sparked a quick response from Christie, who again denied wrongdoing, and prompted a top New Jersey newspaper to suggest the governor could face impeachment. David Wildstein, who resigned his Port Authority post late last year, said in a letter that he had proof of the "inaccuracy" of some of Christie's statements about the so-called "Bridgegate" scandal, which polls show has already started to weigh on Christie's potential 2016 White House bid. Since the scandal first came to light, Christie has denied knowing the cause of the George Washington Bridge lane closings, which occurred after the mayor of Fort Lee declined to endorse the governor in a re-election bid and caused four days of massive traffic jams in that city. Full Story | Top |
| Christie's office fires back at former appointee in email to supporters Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 03:32 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's office fired back on Saturday against a former appointee who has accused Christie of lying about a bridge traffic scandal involving his top aides. David Wildstein, a long-time Christie acquaintance and one of his appointees at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages the George Washington Bridge connecting New Jersey and New York City, resigned from his post after it emerged he oversaw a politically inspired closure of the bridge in September. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry downplays key U.S. senator's opposition on trade talks Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 03:05 PM PST  By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's opposition to President Barack Obama's push for authority to fast-track trade deals should not stand in the way of U.S. congressional passage of the measure. Reid, a Democrat, is the senior member of Obama's party in Congress. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Obama asked for fast-track trade negotiation authority. Legislation before the House of Representatives and Senate would grant the White House power to submit free trade deals to Congress for an up-or-down vote, without amendments. Full Story | Top |
| Jordanian Islamist prisoners stage hunger strike Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 02:37 PM PST By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Islamist prisoners in Jordan, including several prominent figures linked to al Qaeda, began a hunger strike on Saturday to protest about jail conditions, sources and officials said. Among the 120 hunger strikers are radical cleric Abu Qatada, who was deported from Britain last July after a lengthy legal battle, and Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, a leading al Qaeda thinker, the sources said. "They have totally rejected the meals and food provided by the state until their demands for better treatment are met," Sheikh Saad Huneity, a Jordanian Salafi jihadist leader who has previously spent years in detention, told Reuters. Jordan has stepped up arrests of Islamists along its border with Syria in recent months, detaining scores of people trying to cross over to join jihadist groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bomber kills three in Lebanese Hezbollah stronghold Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 02:03 PM PST  By Stephen Kalin BEIRUT (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber killed three people at a petrol station in a stronghold of the Shi'ite militant Hezbollah movement on Lebanon's northern border on Saturday, the latest sign that Syria's civil war is spilling over into its small neighbor. The blast occurred in the town of Hermel at the northern end of the Bekaa Valley, an area populated mainly by Shi'ite Muslims among whom Hezbollah draws its support. Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) cited witnesses who said the perpetrator entered the petrol station and asked to buy fuel before detonating the bomb, leaving a meter-deep hole in the ground and setting the station and nearby cars on fire. Images broadcast on Hezbollah's Al Manar television showed fire raging beside a severely damaged petrol station as well as emergency vehicles and security forces at the scene. Full Story | Top |
| Political paralysis looms as Thais go to polls Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 01:48 PM PST  By Martin Petty BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai voters go to the polls under heavy security on Sunday in an election that could push the divided country deeper into political turmoil and leave the winner paralyzed for months by street protests, legal challenges and legislative limbo. The risk of bloodshed at the ballot remains high, a day after seven people were wounded by gunshots and explosions during a standoff between supporters and opponents of embattled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in a north Bangkok stronghold of her Puea Thai Party. The usual campaign billboards, glossy posters and pre-election buzz have been notably absent this time, as will be millions of voters fearful of poll violence or bent on rejecting a ballot bound to re-elect the political juggernaut controlled by Yingluck's billionaire brother, Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin, 64, is loved and loathed in Thailand, but his parties have won every poll since 2001. Full Story | Top |
| West presses Ukraine, offers treatment to injured activist Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 01:06 PM PST  By Alastair Macdonald KIEV (Reuters) - Western governments pressed Ukraine's president to compromise with protesters camped on the streets, prompting a war of words with Russia on Saturday and offering treatment to an opposition activist who says he was tortured. At an annual security conference in Munich, founded at the height of the Cold War, Ukrainian opposition leaders met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and European officials and the Russian foreign minister accused Western powers of fomenting protests against President Viktor Yanukovich. Sergei Lavrov said the West had "imposed" on Ukraine to cooperate with its NATO defense alliance, while Kerry said the Ukrainian protesters believed "their futures do not have to lie with one country alone - and certainly not coerced". Opposition leaders said they felt "huge support" after European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said closer ties to the EU were still on offer to Kiev and Kerry assured them that Washington and the EU "stand with the people of Ukraine" in "the fight for a democratic, European future". Full Story | Top |
| Three Oklahoma Republicans join Senate race to replace Coburn Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 12:46 PM PST By Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Three Oklahoma Republicans have tossed their hats into the ring to replace outgoing U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, with each candidate pledging to overturn President Barack Obama's health care reforms and cut government spending. Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon and U.S. Congressman James Lankford and Jason Weger, a Norman paramedic, have said they will run in the June 24 Republican primary. Full Story | Top |
| Hundreds evacuated from besieged district of Syrian capital Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 12:44 PM PST  Aid agencies in Syria have evacuated hundreds of people from the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Yarmouk, a government-aligned Palestinian group said on Saturday, in a rare moment of coordination between the government and rebel forces. Granting relief groups access to an estimated 250,000 people trapped by fighting across Syria was one of the goals of the peace talks held last week in Switzerland, which adjourned on Friday with no substantial results. Anwar Raja, a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), which operates in Yarmouk, said the group had coordinated with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent on Friday and Saturday to extract "hundreds" of the suburb's residents. The evacuees were transported to several government-run hospitals and one operated by the Red Crescent, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group. Full Story | Top |
| UK says close to placing order for F-35 jets Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 12:36 PM PST  By Adrian Croft MUNICH (Reuters) - Britain is close to placing its first order for Lockheed Martin-built F-35 super-stealth jets, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said on Saturday. Reuters cited sources last week as saying that Britain was likely to announce an order soon for 14 of the advanced jets, marking Britain's first firm F-35 purchase since it committed to buying 48 planes in 2012. "We will have to place a firm order very soon in order to have the first squadron ready to start flying training off the 'Queen Elizabeth' in 2018, which is our current plan," he said in an interview with Reuters Television during the Munich Security Conference. The Queen Elizabeth is one of two British aircraft carriers currently under construction. Full Story | Top |
| Israel's finance minister halts funds to West Bank settlements Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 12:33 PM PST  Israel's finance minister halted the transfer of government funds to West Bank Jewish settlements on Saturday and ordered a probe into allegations that money meant to support municipalities had been funneled to a pro-settler political group. The money in question had been earmarked to cover security and building maintenance fees that were incurred when Israel froze settlement building for 10 months during 2009 and 2010, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who heads a centrist party in the ruling coalition, ordered payments to be "stopped immediately" until the issue was cleared up, the statement said. Israel's YNet news website reported that, over the past four years, the government had transferred 148 million shekels ($42 million) to the municipalities to help compensate them for income lost as a result of the 10-month freeze, declared under U.S. pressure to help restart peace talks. Full Story | Top |
| Toronto mayor Ford gets jay-walking ticket in Vancouver -reports Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 12:26 PM PST  Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who gained global notoriety last year after admitting to smoking crack cocaine while in a "drunken stupor", was ticketed for jay-walking during a trip to Vancouver to attend a funeral, Canadian media reported on Saturday. The Toronto Sun newspaper said Ford confirmed he was issued a C$109 ($97.76) ticket on Friday night by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for disobeying a pedestrian sign. Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi army prepares to storm militant-held Falluja Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 12:24 PM PST  By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces are preparing to storm Falluja and break a month-long standoff with militants who are in control of the city, senior security officials and troops told Reuters on Saturday. Anti-government fighters, among them insurgents linked with al Qaeda, overran two cities in the Sunni-dominated western province of Anbar on January 1. At least 12 people were killed in bombings across Iraq on Saturday, mostly in the capital Baghdad, just 70 km (40 miles) away from Falluja, a city currently surrounded by the army. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had held off an all out assault on the city to give local tribesmen a chance to expel the militants themselves, but security officials told Reuters a decision had been made to enter Falluja by 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| Former Chicago Mayor Daley in intensive care at hospital Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 12:23 PM PST  (Reuters) - Richard M. Daley, who was mayor of Chicago from 1989 to 2011, was in the intensive care unit of a Chicago hospital on Saturday after falling ill the day before, the hospital said. Northwestern Memorial Hospital said that Daley, 71, became ill after returning from a business trip in Arizona and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. "Mayor Daley's family is with him and they are visiting between tests." No further information was immediately available. Full Story | Top |
| NATO chief doesn't see Karzai signing security pact Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 11:07 AM PST  By Adrian Croft MUNICH (Reuters) - President Hamid Karzai is unlikely to sign a pact for U.S. and NATO forces to stay in Afghanistan after 2014 and will probably leave the choice for his successor, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Saturday. But Karzai has said he will not sign the agreement unless certain conditions are met. The delay has frustrated the United States and its allies, who want to plan the post-2014 training and advisory mission. Both the United States and NATO have said they may be forced to pull their forces out of Afghanistan entirely at the end of this year unless the agreement is signed soon. Full Story | Top |
| Grief-stricken Quebec town mourns victims of retirement home blaze Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 11:03 AM PST  By Louise Egan L'ISLE-VERTE, Quebec (Reuters) - About 900 mourners in the small grief-stricken Quebec town of L'Isle-Verte attended a public mass on Saturday for the 32 people feared dead from a fire that ripped through a wooden retirement home. Somber-faced friends and relatives sat in the town's large 19th-century Roman Catholic church to hear prayers and tributes to victims of the January 23 blaze, one of the worst disasters to hit a Canadian residence for the elderly. Among those attending the nationally televised ceremony were Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Quebec Premier Pauline Marois. Governor-General David Johnston came as the personal representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state. Full Story | Top |
| Florida reviews thousands of drug cases for possible evidence tampering Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 10:37 AM PST  By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida's state police agency on Saturday announced a massive evidence review in thousands of drug cases handled by one crime-laboratory chemist, saying its findings could lead to some criminal cases being quashed and drug dealers set free. The chemist is suspected of taking illegal drugs out of evidence storage and replacing them with over-the-counter medication, the agency said. We don't know," Gerald Bailey, head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), said at a news conference. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to propose new U.N. rights resolution against Sri Lanka Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 10:11 AM PST By Shihar Aneez COLOMBO (Reuters) - The United States will table a U.N. human rights resolution against Sri Lanka, a State Department official said on Saturday, putting new pressure on Colombo to address war crimes allegations. The United Nations has already called on Sri Lanka to punish military personnel responsible for atrocities in the civil war that the government won in 2009, and Washington says the human rights climate on the island is worsening. "Lack of progress in Sri Lanka has led to great deal of frustration and skepticism in my government and in the international community," Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal told reporters in Colombo after a two-day visit. We heard from many people about people who are still unaccounted for, whose whereabouts and fates are unknown to their family members." Biswal declined to say what would be in the resolution to be tabled at the March session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, but U.S. Embassy officials have said it may call for an international investigation in Sri Lanka. Full Story | Top |
| Who is that masked man? Kiev's Pianist-Extremist Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 09:22 AM PST By Jack Stubbs KIEV (Reuters) - Masked men in combat gear have become a feature of the anti-government protest camp that has taken over central Kiev, but one stands out for his weapon of choice - the piano. For the Pianist-Extremist, whose impromptu performances on the frozen street outside City Hall have delighted fellow demonstrators, the paramilitary costume, like his stage name, is an ironic barb aimed at Ukrainian authorities who condemn those demanding closer ties with Europe as dangerous militants. With the protests now in their third month since President Viktor Yanukovich spurned an EU trade deal in favour of a deal with Ukraine's old master Moscow, his music makes a pleasant change to the banging of oil drums that has been the soundtrack of the movement around the square known as Maidan. "The music helps people and strengthens their morale," the anonymous virtuoso said as he picked out a piece by contemporary Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi on a battered old upright painted in the national colours of blue and yellow. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt court adjourns Mursi trial over protester deaths Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 09:15 AM PST  A Cairo court on Saturday adjourned the trial which sees Egypt's ousted President Mohamed Mursi accused of inciting the killing of protesters, while dozens of supporters of his Muslim Brotherhood were jailed for other crimes. Mursi, who was deposed by the army in July following mass protests against him, remained largely silent in the hearing, which has been adjourned until Tuesday. Four separate sets of charges have been brought against Mursi since he was ousted, at least one of which can carry the death penalty. Several of the 14 other defendants in Saturday's session, sitting in glass cages like Mursi, turned their back on the judge, a Reuters witness said. Full Story | Top |
| Iran's top clergy back Rouhani's nuclear approach Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 08:52 AM PST  President Hassan Rouhani has secured the backing of senior conservative clerics against hardliners opposed to a nuclear deal reached with major powers, Iran's official news agency IRNA said on Saturday. His first vice president, Eshaq Jahangiri, visited clerics in the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom to explain the deal and seek their blessing over "complex foreign policy issues" ahead of talks next month on a long-term accord, IRNA said. An interim deal between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany was reached in November in Geneva, aimed at persuading Iran to curb parts of its nuclear work, in return for a limited easing of sanctions. Full Story | Top |
| Injured Ukrainian activist can be treated in EU, Germany says Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 08:50 AM PST A Ukrainian anti-government activist held captive for a week and severely beaten has been given permission to travel to the European Union for medical treatment, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Saturday. "It is my information that he can leave the country tomorrow if he wants to," said Steinmeier, adding his Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kozhara had informed him of this in a phone call. He said Dimitri Bulatov could receive treatment in Germany if he wished. Full Story | Top |
| Judge OKs class action status in Virginia for gay marriage lawsuit Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 08:23 AM PST By Gary Robertson RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) - A federal judge in western Virginia has certified as a class action a lawsuit filed by two Shenandoah Valley couples challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriages. Friday's order adds to growing momentum to end the state's prohibition of same-sex marriage, with Virginia's new attorney general saying his office will no longer defend the ban. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Urbanski said in the order that same-sex couples seeking to marry in the state as well as those married in states where gay marriage is legal could challenge Virginia's ban as a group. Lawyers for the couples who filed the lawsuit estimate that there are about 15,000 same-sex households in Virginia, based on U.S. Census data. Full Story | Top |
| Thousands march in Madrid against planned abortion limits Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 07:57 AM PST  By Inmaculada Sanz MADRID (Reuters) - Thousands of people marched in Spain's capital on Saturday to protest against a government plan to limit abortions that has caused unusually open divisions in the ruling conservative People's Party. Protesters from around the country joined the biggest demonstration so far against a draft bill to restrict abortion to cases of rape or severe danger to the mother's health. Four years ago, Spain came in line with most of the rest of Europe when the then Socialist government legalised abortion on demand in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's cabinet approved the draft bill on abortion in December - in a move widely seen as an attempt to appease his party's disgruntled right wing - but it has not been submitted yet to parliament for debate. Full Story | Top |
| Power producer says may cut supplies to India's capital Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 07:26 AM PST India's top power producer NTPC Ltd said on Saturday it might cut supplies to a company that distributes electricity to parts of New Delhi, something that could plunge the heart of India's capital into darkness. State utility NTPC said distribution company BSES Yamuna Power Ltd, which sells electricity in the central and eastern parts of the city of about 16 million people, must clear its dues or else supplies would be cut from February 11. Citing lower tariffs and a shortfall in revenues, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd, an arm of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, has already expressed its inability to pay state-run power generation companies. The row could result in an outage of up to 10 hours a day, exacerbating problems for Delhi's newly-elected Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, elected on the promise of cutting electricity tariffs for millions of Delhi's voters. Full Story | Top |
| Khartoum stops Red Cross activities in Sudan: ICRC spokesman Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 06:26 AM PST Sudan's government has suspended the activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the country, the organization said on Saturday without giving details of the reasons. The Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), a government agency responsible for permitting, coordinating and monitoring the activities of aid organizations, told the ICRC on Wednesday its work would be suspended on February 1, Adel Sherif said. "We have stopped our work across all of Sudan," Sherif, spokesman for the ICRC in the country, told Reuters. The United States imposed sanctions on Sudan in 1997 over alleged human rights violations and support for "international terrorism", then strengthened the penalties in 2006 over Khartoum's festering conflict with rebels in Darfur. Full Story | Top |
| Voting starts in New Orleans as Landrieu seeks new terms as mayor Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 06:12 AM PST Voting opened in New Orleans on Saturday, with front-runner Mayor Mitch Landrieu trying to win a another four-year term on a record of helping the Crescent City rebuild itself from Hurricane Katrina. But his African-American challengers have said Landrieu, the white scion of one of the state's pre-eminent Democratic political families, has not done enough to help the poor in the predominantly black city. His main challenger is state court Judge Michael Bagneris, who had been executive counsel to former Mayor Ernest "Dutch" Morial and is well-known in the black political establishment. Tourism, one of New Orleans' biggest industries, has made a striking recovery since Katrina hit in 2005, with visitor numbers in 2013 approaching a nine-year high. Full Story | Top |
| Split over presidential candidate may push Macedonia to early election Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 05:37 AM PST Macedonia called a presidential election for April 13 on Saturday but the ruling coalition's failure to agree on a joint candidate might push the Balkan country to call an early parliamentary vote in the same month. The ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), a junior partner in the ruling coalition, has demanded their Macedonian allies nominate a "consensual candidate" for president, who would be acceptable for both communities. Ethnic Albanians represent a third of Macedonia's 2 million population and relations with Macedonians, who are ethnic Slavs, have been tense since 2001, when an ethnic conflict almost plunged the country into civil war. The current president, Gjorge Ivanov, is from the Macedonian conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, which leads the government. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. defense boss seeks to put diplomacy ahead of military might Saturday, Feb 01, 2014 05:32 AM PST  By Missy Ryan MUNICH (Reuters) - The top U.S. defense official on Saturday underscored the Obama administration's intention to shift the focus of its foreign policy away from military might toward diplomacy. Speaking at the Munich security conference, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he and Secretary of State John Kerry "have both worked to restore balance to the relationship between American defense and diplomacy". Hagel, in prepared remarks, stressed that the United States was "moving off a 13-year war footing" as the war in Afghanistan winds down and as Washington seeks to avoid getting involved in additional military conflicts overseas. Hagel's remarks echo those of President Barack Obama, who in his annual State of the Union address this week said the United States could not rely on its military power alone, promising to send U.S. troops to fight overseas only when "truly necessary". Full Story | Top |
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