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Tuesday, December 27, 2011 12:18 AM PST

Today's Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Ethiopia jails two Swedish journalists for aiding Arab League monitors on their way to Syria's Homs: report Mexico police arrested over torture video Tepco seeks $9 billion more for Fukushima compensation U.S. considering travel request from Yemen's Saleh China official says Wukan protest shows rights demands on rise China's fiscal deficit to fall in 2012: source Pakistan urged to share border-post map Arab observers aim to see Syria's deadliest city Sadr bloc calls for early elections in Iraq Aide to top Mexican drug boss Guzman captured Exclusive: Afghanistan sets ground rules for Taliban U.S. mulling Yemen's Saleh travel request: official Obamas go to church, dine in for Christmas in Hawaii Paul builds campaign on doomsday scenarios Carnage in Homs district as tanks open fire: video Nigerian leaders rapped after Islamists attack churches Egypt's PM urges G8 to help unlock promised aid Cuba makes more reforms to retail sector Afghan president appoints new election officials Gunman in Santa suit killed six, self in Texas: police Pakistan PM denies reports govt wants to sack army, intel chiefs Former South Korean first lady heads North for condolences Analysis: Russia's Putin risks losing touch amid protests Head of monitors in Syria says access good so far Afghanistan cabinet OKs oil deal with China's CNPC Israeli lawmakers weigh recognizing Armenian genocide Japan hopes Europe will boost rescue mechanism: sources Toll in Syria's Homs rises to 20 before monitor visit Islamists set to quit Algerian govt, push reform Gunfight between army factions in Bissau capital Opposition leader calls upcoming Iran election bogus: report Gandhi clan blamed for keeping India in poverty Pope condemns Nigeria attacks, prays for them to stop Pope condemns Nigeria attacks, prays for them to stop Gingrich out of Virginia primary election Nigerian leaders rapped after Islamists attack churches Ex-speaker Shevchuk wins vote in rebel Transdniestria Suicide bomber kills 7 outside Iraq ministry Thirteen dead in third day of heavy shelling in Homs Ethiopia jails two Swedish journalists for aiding Mon,26 Dec 2011 11:46 PM PST Reuters - ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - An Ethiopian court sentenced two Swedish journalists on Tuesday to 11 years in prison for helping and promoting the outlawed Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebel group and entering the country illegally, a judge said. Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson were arrested in July after they entered Ethiopia's Ogaden province from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region with a team of ONLF fighters. "The court has sentenced both defendants to 11 years. We have heard both cases ... ... Full Story Top Arab League monitors on their way to Syria's Homs: report Mon,26 Dec 2011 11:22 PM PST Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab League peace monitors are on their way to the Syrian city of Homs, Egypt's state TV said on Tuesday, quoting the head of the mission. Activists say at least 31 people were killed on Monday in the city, which has been under heavy attack in recent days by government troops and tanks trying to put down a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story Top Mexico police arrested over torture video Mon,26 Dec 2011 10:57 PM PST Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican authorities arrested five policemen on Monday on suspicion of torture after a video was made public showing police officers submerging a detainee's head in a bucket of water. An official at the attorney general's office said five Mexico City police officers were taken into custody over the alleged torture, which took place in the capital's tough inner city neighborhood of Tepito last month. ... Full Story Top Tepco seeks $9 billion more for Fukushima compensation Mon,26 Dec 2011 07:57 PM PST Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co asked a government-backed bailout body on Tuesday for an additional 690 billion yen ($8.8 billion) to help compensate victims of the nuclear crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi power plant. To help Japan's biggest utility, known as Tepco, meet costs running into trillions of yen for compensation and cleanup, the government had already agreed in November to provide 890 billion yen through a bailout fund. ... Full Story Top U.S. considering travel request from Yemen's Saleh Mon,26 Dec 2011 07:12 PM PST Reuters - HONOLULU (Reuters) - The U.S. government is trying to decide whether to let Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh travel to the United States for medical treatment, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday. Saleh was injured in a June assassination attempt that forced him into a hospital in Saudi Arabia, and transferred power to his vice president last month after months of protests that brought the Gulf country to the brink of civil war. ... Full Story Top China official says Wukan protest shows rights demands on rise Mon,26 Dec 2011 05:59 PM PST Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - The senior Chinese official who helped defuse a standoff with protesting villagers has told officials to get used to citizens who are increasingly assertive about their rights and likened erring local governments to red apples with rotten cores. Zhu Mingguo, a deputy Communist Party secretary of southern Guangdong province, last week helped broker a compromise between the government and residents of Wukan village. Ten days of protests over confiscated farmland and the death of a protest organizer drew widespread attention as a rebuff to the stability-before-all government. ... Full Story Top China's fiscal deficit to fall in 2012: source Mon,26 Dec 2011 05:47 PM PST Reuters - SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's central government will run a smaller fiscal deficit in 2012, according to a report by local media. Fiscal outlays will increase 11 percent to 11.1 trillion yuan ($1.75 trillion) in 2012, against a revenue increase of 9 percent, according an unnamed finance ministry source cited by the Shanghai Securities Journal. The figures, which emerged at the conclusion of the national Ministry of Finance Work Meeting on Monday, imply a 2012 fiscal deficit of 800 billion yuan, down 50 billion yuan from the expected 2011 deficit, the paper calculated. ... Full Story Top Pakistan urged to share border-post map Mon,26 Dec 2011 03:47 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Central Command is urging Pakistan to share a map of its facilities and installations near the Afghan border to help avert episodes like the one that killed 24 Pakistani forces last month. U.S. Marine Corps General James Mattis, the commander, said in a statement on Monday that the strike's chief lesson was that "we must improve border coordination and this requires a foundational level of trust on both sides of the border." Separately, the U.S. ... Full Story Top Arab observers aim to see Syria's deadliest city Mon,26 Dec 2011 04:59 PM PST Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Newly-arrived Arab League peace monitors will try Tuesday to see for themselves the situation in the Syrians city of Homs, which opponents of President Bashar al-Assad say has been pulverized by government troops and tanks in recent days. At least 31 people were killed in the city Monday as tanks fired into districts where opposition has been strongest to Assad's rule, activists said. ... Full Story Top Sadr bloc calls for early elections in Iraq Mon,26 Dec 2011 02:44 PM PST Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The head of the political bloc of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Monday for new elections in Iraq after the biggest crisis in a year saw Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki move against two senior Sunni rivals. Tensions are rising after Maliki, a Shi'ite, sought the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi - accused of running death squads. Maliki also asked parliament to fire Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq. ... Full Story Top Aide to top Mexican drug boss Guzman captured Mon,26 Dec 2011 02:17 PM PST Reuters - (Adds details of seizure) MEXICO CITY, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Mexico landed its third blow against the country's most wanted drug trafficker in as many months after capturing a suspected lieutenant of Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, boss of the powerful Sinaloa cartel. On Monday, masked Mexican soldiers presented Felipe Cabrera, known as "el Inge," to the media following his capture in Culiacan, capital of Sinaloa, the northwestern Pacific state after which the drug cartel is named. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: Afghanistan sets ground rules for Taliban Mon,26 Dec 2011 02:03 PM PST Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan will accept a Taliban liaison office in Qatar to start peace talks but no foreign power can get involved in the process without its consent, the government's peace council said, as efforts gather pace to find a solution to the decade-long war. Afghanistan's High Peace Council, in a note to foreign missions, has set out ground rules for engaging the Taliban after Kabul grew concerned that the United States and Qatar, helped by Germany, had secretly agreed with the Taliban to open an office in the Qatari capital, Doha. U.S. ... Full Story Top U.S. mulling Yemen's Saleh travel request: official Mon,26 Dec 2011 12:32 PM PST Reuters - HONOLULU (Reuters) - The U.S. government would only allow Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to travel to the United States for "legitimate" medical treatment, and is now considering the request, a senior Obama administration official said on Monday. The official said Saleh's office recently contacted the U.S. embassy in Sanaa to say the president plans to leave Yemen soon and wants to get specialized care in the United States related to injuries he sustained in a June assassination attempt that forced him into hospital in Saudi Arabia. ... Full Story Top Obamas go to church, dine in for Christmas in Hawaii Mon,26 Dec 2011 11:16 AM PST Reuters - HONOLULU, Hawaii (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spent a low-key Christmas Day with his wife and daughters in Hawaii, going to church and thanking U.S. troops for their service before hosting friends for dinner at the first family's rented beach house. The Obamas started opening gifts around 8 a.m. on Sunday and then ate breakfast and sang carols together before heading to the chapel at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii for a Christmas service, the White House said. ... Full Story Top Paul builds campaign on doomsday scenarios Mon,26 Dec 2011 10:42 AM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON, Iowa (Reuters) - The man who might win the Republican Party's first presidential nominating contest fears that the United Nations may take control of the U.S. money supply. Campaigning for the January 3 Iowa caucuses, Ron Paul warns of eroding civil liberties, a Soviet Union-style economic collapse and violence in the streets. The Texas congressman, author of "End the Fed," also wants to eliminate the central banking system that underpins the world's largest economy. ... Full Story Top Carnage in Homs district as tanks open fire: video Mon,26 Dec 2011 10:25 AM PST Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Terrified residents cowered in their homes on Monday in Syria's Homs, as army tanks fired shells, machineguns and mortars into their neighborhoods, and amateur video filmed by anti-government activists showed carnage in a city street. Four bodies of what appeared to be male civilians lay bloodied under fallen power lines in a narrow alleyway of the Baba Amr district, their limbs twisted, heads gashed and brains spilling out. "What is happening is a slaughter," said Fadi, a resident near Baba Amr who spoke to Reuters on Skype. "They hit people with mortar fire. ... Full Story Top Nigerian leaders rapped after Islamists attack churches Mon,26 Dec 2011 09:55 AM PST Reuters - ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's main opposition leader accused the government of incompetence on Monday after Islamist militants killed more than two dozen people in Christmas Day attacks on churches and other targets. Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner and former military ruler who lost a presidential election in April to incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian southerner, told a Nigerian daily that the government was slow to respond and had shown indifference to the bombings. ... Full Story Top Egypt's PM urges G8 to help unlock promised aid Mon,26 Dec 2011 09:49 AM PST Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's prime minister appealed to Group of Eight countries on Monday to help unlock billions of dollars in aid promised in September but not yet delivered under an initiative to support countries of the Arab spring. Army-backed Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri, who was appointed in November, met ambassadors of G8 countries to tell them Egypt needed financial support immediately, Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr said. ... Full Story Top Cuba makes more reforms to retail sector Mon,26 Dec 2011 09:44 AM PST Reuters - HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba will open up more of the country's retail services to the private sector next year, allowing Cubans to operate various services such as appliance and watch repair, and locksmith and carpentry shops, official media reported on Monday. The measures are the latest by President Raul Castro in his attempt to reinvigorate Cuba's struggling Soviet-style economy by reducing the role of the state and encouraging more private initiative. A resolution published in the official gazette on Monday said the new reforms would take effect on January 1. ... Full Story Top Afghan president appoints new election officials Mon,26 Dec 2011 09:13 AM PST Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has named three new commissioners, including a former provincial governor, to the Independent Election Commission (IEC), a body that has faced criticism in the past for failing to stand up to government pressure. The internationally-funded IEC has been at the centre of a standoff between the Karzai administration and parliament over a fraud-marred 2010 vote in which it threw out nearly a quarter of all votes over fraud and technical complaints. ... Full Story Top Gunman in Santa suit killed six, self in Texas: police Mon,26 Dec 2011 08:53 AM PST Reuters - GRAPEVINE, Texas (Reuters) - A gunman who killed six people and himself at a family Christmas celebration was dressed in a Santa Claus suit when opened fire, police said on Monday. Authorities continued their search for clues in Grapevine, a Dallas suburb dubbed the "Christmas Capital of Texas," to explain the Sunday murder-suicide rampage that left the seven shot dead among unwrapped holiday presents. The dead -- four women and three men ages 15 to 59 - were found Sunday morning in an apartment living room by police answering a voiceless 911 emergency call, authorities said. ... Full Story Top Pakistan PM denies reports govt wants to sack army, intel chiefs Mon,26 Dec 2011 08:34 AM PST Reuters - ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday denied domestic media reports he was planning to sack the powerful army and intelligence chiefs, saying the military supported democracy. The reports about army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and the Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (DG-ISI), Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, were the latest in what has been feverish press speculation about a rift between civilian politicians and the military. ... Full Story Top Former South Korean first lady heads North for condolences Mon,26 Dec 2011 08:26 AM PST Reuters - PAJU, South Korea (Reuters) - The widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, the author of a now-jettisoned engagement policy with North Korea, crossed the fortified land border between the two sides on Monday to pay her respects to deceased dictator Kim Jong-il. Ties between the North and South have been frozen since the election of conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in 2008, who cut aid in a bid to force the North to abandon a nuclear programme and bring it to the negotiating table. ... Full Story Top Analysis: Russia's Putin risks losing touch amid protests Mon,26 Dec 2011 07:50 AM PST Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin is looking increasingly out of touch in Russia after the opposition brought tens of thousands of people out onto the streets of Moscow for the second time in two weeks to demand a parliamentary election be re-run. But the looming New Year holiday in Russia means there is likely to be a pause in the biggest opposition protests since he rose to power 12 years ago and he will hope they will now at least temporarily lose momentum. ... Full Story Top Head of monitors in Syria says access good so far Mon,26 Dec 2011 07:36 AM PST Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - The head of the Arab League's monitoring mission seeking an end to violent repression in Syria said on Monday he met several government officials who have been cooperative and said access had been unfettered "so far." Sudanese General Mustafa Dabi, who arrived in Damascus on Saturday, is leading a team of observers that will check whether Syria is implementing part of an Arab peace plan requiring it to pull out of civilian areas and put an end to bloodshed. ... Full Story Top Afghanistan cabinet OKs oil deal with China's CNPC Mon,26 Dec 2011 07:08 AM PST Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's cabinet cleared the way for the war-torn state to sign a deal with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) for the development of oil blocks in the Amu Darya basin, the Afghan president's office said on Monday. The deal covering drilling and a refinery in the northern provinces of Sar-e Pul and Faryab will be the first international oil production agreement entered into by the Afghan government for several decades. ... Full Story Top Israeli lawmakers weigh recognizing Armenian genocide Mon,26 Dec 2011 07:02 AM PST Reuters - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli lawmakers debated on Monday recognizing the 1915 mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide but were warned by the Foreign Ministry about further damage to frayed relations with Turkey. The issue has stirred deep emotions in Israel, where some legislators have said the Jewish people, who suffered six million dead in the Nazi Holocaust, have a moral obligation to identify with the Armenian tragedy, even at the risk of a Turkish backlash. ... Full Story Top Japan hopes Europe will boost rescue mechanism: sources Mon,26 Dec 2011 04:36 AM PST Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - Europe should boost the total firepower of its rescue fund and frontload its funding to send a positive signal to investors and international partners that it is determined to solve its debt crisis, Japanese officials said on Monday. Japan has repeatedly expressed its willingness to help Europe contain its debt crisis, but has also stressed it wanted to see a convincing action plan before making any firm commitments. ... Full Story Top Toll in Syria's Homs rises to 20 before monitor visit Mon,26 Dec 2011 04:32 AM PST Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - A third day of heavy gunfire in Syria's flashpoint city of Homs has killed at least twenty people, a day before an Arab League monitoring mission is expected there, activists said on Monday. "The toll has risen to 20 martyrs documented by name and the circumstances of their deaths," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "Fourteen died in the continuous shelling on the Baba Amr neighborhood and six were killed in random gunfire in nearby neighborhoods." (Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Louise Ireland) Full Story Top Islamists set to quit Algerian govt, push reform Mon,26 Dec 2011 04:32 AM PST Reuters - ALGIERS (Reuters) - Boosted by the success of peers in the region, a leading Algerian Islamist party plans to leave the ruling coalition before April's parliamentary election to press for constitutional reforms to limit the powers of the president. "We are for a parliamentary system, not a presidential system as is the case now, and we will campaign to change the constitution," Bouguera Soltani, leader of the Islamist Movement for Society of Peace (MSP), told Reuters in an interview. "The final decision belongs to the shura (advisory council) which should take it by the end of this month. ... Full Story Top Gunfight between army factions in Bissau capital Mon,26 Dec 2011 04:31 AM PST Reuters - BISSAU (Reuters) - Fighting erupted between two factions of Guinea Bissau's armed forces early on Monday, forcing the prime minister to seek refuge at a foreign embassy, witnesses and a diplomat told Reuters. Residents said automatic weapons and rocket fire could be heard at the Santa Luzia army base in the capital Bissau. No casualties have been reported. "Apparently, it is friction between the army chief and the head of the navy," the Bissau-based diplomat said, requesting not to be named. "The prime minister has sought refuge in a foreign embassy. ... Full Story Top Opposition leader calls upcoming Iran election bogus: report Mon,26 Dec 2011 04:29 AM PST Reuters - TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian opposition leader who has been under house arrest since February has accused the Islamic establishment of intending to hold a "rubber-stamp" parliamentary election in March, his website Sahamnews reported on Monday. Candidates began registering on Saturday for the March 2 vote, which will be the first litmus test of the clerical leadership's public standing since a disputed 2009 presidential vote that precipitated months of unrest. ... Full Story Top Gandhi clan blamed for keeping India in poverty Mon,26 Dec 2011 04:28 AM PST Reuters - NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for most of the 64 years since independence has kept the world's largest democracy in poverty, leaders of a protest movement said on Monday as they prepared renewed rallies to target the government on corruption. A three-day fast led by 74-year-old activist Anna Hazare and a plan for thousands of people to picket the home of Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi on New Years Eve will be a test of strength for the anti-corruption movement that forced a government U-turn in the summer. ... Full Story Top Pope condemns Nigeria attacks, prays for them to stop Mon,26 Dec 2011 04:02 AM PST Reuters - VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Monday condemned the Christmas Day bomb attacks by Islamist militants in Nigeria as an "absurd gesture" and prayed that "the hands of the violent be stopped." The pope, speaking from his window overlooking St Peter's Square in Rome, said such violence brought only pain, destruction and death. Militants of the Boko Haram sect said they had set off the bombs, raising fears that they are trying to ignite sectarian civil war. Three of the five bombs hit churches and one killed at least 27 people at a Catholic church. ... Full Story Top Pope condemns Nigeria attacks, prays for them to stop Mon,26 Dec 2011 04:01 AM PST Reuters - VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Monday condemned the Christmas Day bomb attacks by Islamist militants in Nigeria as an "absurd gesture" and prayed that "the hands of the violent be stopped". The pope, speaking from his window overlooking St Peter's Square in Rome, said such violence brought only pain, destruction and death. Militants of the Boko Haram sect said they had set off the bombs, raising fears that they are trying to ignite sectarian civil war. Three of the five bombs hit churches and one killed at least 27 people at a Catholic church. ... Full Story Top Gingrich out of Virginia primary election Mon,26 Dec 2011 03:48 AM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has failed to meet the requirements to be in the presidential primary election in Virginia, where he resides, the state's Republican Party said. Gingrich had been leading in a poll of Virginia voters and a spokesman for the former speaker of the House of Representatives defiantly pledged to run a write-in campaign for the March 6 vote. However, Virginia does not permit write-ins in primary elections, according to the state code. ... Full Story Top Nigerian leaders rapped after Islamists attack churches Mon,26 Dec 2011 03:30 AM PST Reuters - ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria lacks competent leaders to tackle its security problems, a former military ruler said on Monday, following Christmas Day bomb attacks on churches by Islamist militants that killed more than two dozen people. Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner who lost the last presidential election in April to incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, said in a statement in a Nigerian daily that the government was slow to respond and had shown indifference to the bombings. ... Full Story Top Ex-speaker Shevchuk wins vote in rebel Transdniestria Mon,26 Dec 2011 02:47 AM PST Reuters - TIRASPOL, Moldova (Reuters) - Former parliament speaker Yevgeny Shevchuk won the presidential election in Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region, the territory's election authority said on Monday, the second setback for regional power Russia within two months. "According to preliminary results, he (Shevchuk) received 73.88 percent of votes while his opponent Anatoly Kaminsky received 19.67 percent," Central Election Commission chairman Pyotr Denisenko told reporters. Shevchuk competed against current speaker Anatoly Kaminsky, who was backed by Russia, in a run-off on Sunday. ... Full Story Top Suicide bomber kills 7 outside Iraq ministry Mon,26 Dec 2011 02:20 AM PST Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed when a suicide car bomber hit Iraq's interior ministry on Monday in the latest attack since a crisis erupted between the Shi'ite-led government and Sunni leaders a week ago. Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought the arrest of the Sunni vice president last Monday and asked parliament to fire his own Sunni deputy, triggering turmoil that threatens new sectarian strife just after the last U.S. troops withdrew. ... Full Story Top Thirteen dead in third day of heavy shelling in Homs Mon,26 Dec 2011 01:38 AM PST Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - A third day of heavy shelling in Syria's flashpoint city of Homs has killed at least thirteen people, a day before an Arab League monitoring mission is expected there, activists said on Monday. "The death toll has risen to thirteen martyrs so far, they were killed in heavy shelling that started this morning in the neighborhood of Baba Amr," said British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Louise Ireland) Full Story Top

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