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| Soyuz rocket blasts off from French Guiana Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 08:51 PM PST KOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) - A Russian-made Soyuz rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Saturday and placed into orbit an Earth observation satellite for France, space officials said. It is the fourth time that Soyuz, which first flew in 1966 and traces its roots back even further to the earliest Cold War intercontinental ballistic missiles, has been launched from outside its former Soviet bases. The rocket lifted off at 11:02 p.m. (0202 GMT on Sunday) from a launch pad at Europe's space base near Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran stations defense staff at North Korea military site: Kyodo Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 07:39 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Iran has stationed defense staff in North Korea since late October apparently to strengthen cooperation in missile and nuclear development, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported on Sunday, citing a Western diplomatic source. The report came as North Korea said on Saturday it would carry out its second rocket launch of 2012 between December 10 and December 22, near the first anniversary of the death of young leader Kim Jong-un's father. The Iranian mission, Kyodo said, is made up of four experts from Iran's Ministry of Defense and firms close to it. ... Full Story | Top |
| Emails suggest SEC's Schapiro delayed JOBS Act rule amid concerns about legacy Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 07:03 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outgoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro delayed immediately implementing a rule to lift a ban on broader-based advertising for private placements in part because she feared it would tarnish her legacy as a pro-investor leader of the agency, internal SEC emails obtained by a U.S. House of Representatives oversight panel show. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo rebels quit Goma, saying it's "for peace" Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 04:36 PM PST  GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Hundreds of rebel fighters, singing and brandishing weapons, pulled out of Congo's eastern border city of Goma on Saturday, raising hopes for negotiations to end the insurgency. The withdrawal of the M23 rebel movement from Goma on Lake Kivu, a strategic hub in Democratic Republic of Congo's war-scarred east, was agreed in a deal brokered by presidents of the Great Lakes states under Uganda's leadership a week ago. Kieran Dwyer, spokesman for the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York, said the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian center-left party heads into decisive primary Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 04:03 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - The two finalists in a primary to choose the centre-left candidate for prime minister in next year's Italian elections face judgement day on Sunday in a run-off primary after a bitter campaign. The contest will decide whether Pier Luigi Bersani, 61, or Matteo Renzi, 37, stand in national elections early next year against a still-to-be-chosen centre-right candidate to take over from Prime Minister Mario Monti. Most polls say the slow-speaking, bald, professorial Bersani will defeat Renzi, who bounces around platforms at rallies in open shirts and jeans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian rebels bombed, opposition open to peacekeepers Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 04:01 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian jets bombed rebel-held areas of Damascus on Saturday, residents said, as the opposition indicated it could accept an international peacekeeping force if President Bashar al-Assad is forced from power. Warplanes attacked the Damascus suburbs of Kafar Souseh and Darraya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked group. The air strikes follow intensified rebel activity in the capital, Assad's seat of power, as well as stormings of government military bases in recent weeks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hearing for U.S. soldier in WikiLeaks centers on prison treatment Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 03:49 PM PST  FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - A pre-trial hearing for U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning, who is accused of masterminding a massive leak of classified material to the WikiLeaks website, focused on Saturday on a 2011 incident when he broke down and cried in a military brig. The hearing is to determine whether Manning should face a court-martial on suspicion of leaking thousands of classified documents, including military reports and diplomatic cables. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi calls December 15 referendum, Islamists rally Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 03:42 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi called a December 15 referendum on a new constitution, hoping to end protests over a decree expanding his powers, as at least 200,000 of his Islamist supporters rallied in Cairo on Saturday. Approval of the constitution drafted by an assembly stacked with Mursi's Islamist allies will override the November 22 decree that temporarily shielded Mursi from judicial oversight and triggered statements of concern from Western governments. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel does not rule out future Greek debt "haircut" Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 03:34 PM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that Greece's creditors may look at writing down more of its debt but not before the current bailout program has run its course. Last Tuesday Euro zone finance ministers and the IMF approved a package of measures including interest rate reductions and an extension of repayment periods aimed at cutting Greece's public debt to 124 percent of national output by 2020. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico's Pena Nieto takes power vowing to end violence Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 02:17 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Enrique Pena Nieto took over as Mexico's president on Saturday, promising to end years of violence and sluggish economic growth, and giving the party that shaped modern Mexico a shot at redemption after 12 years out of office. The 46-year-old Pena Nieto said the people had been let down since his centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, fell from power in 2000, and pledged a raft of changes to boost growth, create jobs and fight poverty. "The state has lost ground in important areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria rebels bombed as opposition open to peacekeepers Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 02:11 PM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian jets bombed rebel-held areas of Damascus on Saturday, residents said, as the opposition indicated it could accept an international peacekeeping force if President Bashar al-Assad is forced from power. Warplanes attacked the Damascus suburbs of Kafar Souseh and Darraya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked group. The air strikes follow intensified rebel activity in the capital, Assad's seat of power, as well as successful stormings of government military bases in recent weeks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi calls December 15 referendum on constitution Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 02:10 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi called a December 15 referendum on a draft constitution and urged a national dialogue on the "concerns of the nation" as the country nears the end of the transition from Hosni Mubarak's rule. Mursi was speaking after receiving the final draft of the constitution from the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly. "I am issuing my decision to call people for a referendum on the draft constitution on Saturday, December 15," Mursi said in an address to the constituent assembly that approved its final draft on Friday before handing it to Mursi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt opposition figure says draft constitution undermines freedoms Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 02:10 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei said on Saturday the "struggle will continue" after President Mohamed Mursi called a December 15 referendum on a draft constitution. "(Mursi) put to referendum a draft constitution that undermines basic freedoms and violates universal values. The struggle will continue," ElBaradei said on his Twitter feed. (Reporting By Tamim Elyan; Editing by Ralph Gowling) Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's President Mursi receives draft constitution Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 02:10 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's constituent assembly handed its final draft of a planned new constitution for the country to President Mohamed Mursi on Saturday so he could approve it before calling a referendum. The Islamist-dominated assembly finished voting on the draft on Friday. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Ralph Gowling) Full Story | Top |
| Kuwaiti holds divisive vote after mass protest Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 01:42 PM PST KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaitis voted on Saturday in a divisive parliamentary election held under new polling rules that triggered an opposition boycott of the ballot and mass protests. The election is the second this year in the oil-rich Gulf Arab state, where a series of assemblies have collapsed due to a power struggle between elected MPs and the cabinet. Tens of thousands marched on Friday in what organizers said was the largest protest in Kuwaiti history, to urge people to shun the ballot box in protest at a rule change they say will skew the outcome in favor of pro-government candidates. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese tycoon must reapply for approval on Iceland resort: media Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 12:59 PM PST REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - A Chinese tycoon who wants to build a major tourist resort in a remote corner of northeast Iceland must reapply for permission to go ahead with the project, Icelandic media reported on Saturday. Cabinet ministers, led by Industry Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson, said they were unable to make a final decision on Huang Nubo's application as much information remained unavailable, state radio RUV reported. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kim Kardashian brings out fans, Islamists and police in Bahrain Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 12:41 PM PST  MANAMA (Reuters) - Television celebrity Kim Kardashian brought out screaming fans, angry Muslim hardliners and police throwing stun grenades on Saturday when she visited Bahrain to launch a milkshake franchise, witnesses said. About 100 Sunni Salafists demonstrated with banners outside The Walk Bahrain, an upmarket mall in the capital Manama, after some MPs tried to block the visit over what they called her "bad reputation", according to a local newspaper. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia, Nicaragua want to avoid war over water rights dispute Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 12:29 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The presidents of Colombia and Nicaragua on Saturday both said they hoped to avoid war and use dialogue instead to solve a dispute over a recent U.N. court ruling that shifted some of Colombia's resource-rich water to the Central America country. The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) earlier this month shocked Colombia by giving a large expanse of its fishing and potentially oil rich maritime territory to Nicaragua while handing some disputed islands to Colombia in a binding ruling. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Mexico's new president debuts with raft of proposals Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 12:28 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - New Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed a series of economic, security and social measures as he took office on Saturday, aiming to reduce drug war violence and beef up growth in Latin America's second biggest economy. Following are his main proposals, which come on top of his pledges to enact major fiscal and energy reforms: * Propose a balanced budget for 2013, reducing the fiscal deficit to zero. Issue a decree requiring austerity measures and budgetary discipline in public spending. ... Full Story | Top |
| PM says Greek pension funds won't join debt buy-back Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 12:23 PM PST  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek pension funds will not take part in a debt buy-back that is a key part of the country's international bailout, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in a newspaper interview. Greece must conduct the deal by December 13, before it receives more than 30 billion euros ($39 billion) in bailout payments from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisian troops fire tear gas at protesters Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 12:13 PM PST SILIANA, Tunisia (Reuters) - Tunisian security forces fired tear gas and live rounds into the air on Saturday to try to disperse thousands of protesters in a town that has seen days of clashes over economic hardship. National guard forces belonging to the Interior Ministry fired tear gas and rounds from inside armored personnel carriers in the town of Siliana, southwest of Tunis. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK and France pile censure on Israel's new settlement plan Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 11:55 AM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Britain and France condemned on Saturday a plan by Israel to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying international confidence in its desire to make peace with the Palestinians was at risk. Stung by a UN vote according de facto recognition to a Palestinian state, Israel on Friday said it would build thousands of new settler homes, including in a wedge zone between Jerusalem and the West Bank, known as E1, which Washington considers especially sensitive. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detained Italy editor "escapes" to push for press freedom Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 11:54 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - The editor of an Italian newspaper was re-arrested on Saturday, police said, after he intentionally violated the terms of his house detention to draw attention to the issue of press freedom. Alessandro Sallusti, editor-in-chief of Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by the family of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was sentenced to 14 months in September for a libellous article in 2007, when he was at another newspaper. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran's Ahmadinejad gives new job to aide seen as possible heir Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 11:53 AM PST  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has moved his chief of staff, seen as a potential successor and a target of criticism from hardline conservatives, to another job, according to the president's official website on Saturday. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie has provoked the ire of Ahmadinejad's conservative rivals, who accuse him of trying to undermine Iran's theocratic system. Ahmadinejad has defended his closest aide throughout the attacks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico's new president eyes balanced budget for 2013 Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 11:06 AM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, said on Saturday he would propose a balanced budget for 2013. Pena Nieto formally took office on Saturday, and has promised to push for major energy and fiscal reforms. (Reporting by Mexico Newsroom; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
| Thousands attend farewell ceremony for USS Enterprise Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 10:57 AM PST  (Reuters) - The world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, was formally retired on Saturday at a ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia, attended by thousands of crew members who served on the ship during its five decades in the U.S. Navy fleet. The 1,123-foot (342-metres) long Enterprise was commissioned in 1961 with eight nuclear reactors on board, and the next year was deployed to participate in a blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Little progress in U.S. "fiscal cliff" talks Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 09:06 AM PST  HATFIELD, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - With barely a month left before the "fiscal cliff," Republicans and Democrats remained far apart on Friday in talks to avoid the across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that threaten to throw the country back into recession. While President Barack Obama visited a Pennsylvania toy factory to muster public support for tax hikes on the rich, portraying Republicans as scrooges at Christmas time, his primary adversary in negotiations, Republican House Speaker John Boehner, continued to describe the situation as a stalemate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Democrats attempt longshot to force "fiscal cliff" vote Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 09:06 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday announced a longshot bid to force an early vote on tax hikes to break the stalemate in negotiations over the year-end "fiscal cliff." The Democratic plan, which Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said could begin on Tuesday, involves getting a majority of the Republican-controlled House to sign a petition scheduling a vote over the objection of the Republican leadership. Such a procedure, called a "discharge petition," might generate considerable publicity, fire up Democrats and anger Republicans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama aides seek to counter Republican charges on "fiscal cliff" Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 09:06 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration sought to counter Republican charges on Friday that President Barack Obama's plan to avoid a year-end "fiscal cliff" is light on spending cuts and too reliant on tax increases. Administration officials said the overall plan, offered to Republicans on Thursday and quickly rejected by them, would achieve $4.5 trillion in savings to the government. This includes around $1 trillion in cuts already enacted into law and would set up an "expedited process" to spirit through Congress some of the most comprehensive legislation in decades. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition may allow peacekeepers if Assad goes Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 08:44 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Syria's newly-formed opposition coalition said on Saturday it might allow an international peacekeeping force into Syria if President Bashar al-Assad and his allies leave power. Coalition spokesman Walid al-Bunni, asked about statements by U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi that a ceasefire would only hold if overseen by a peacekeeping mission, said the opposition could accept such a deployment if Assad stepped down first. The issue of peacekeepers is highly sensitive. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel reaffirms support for Israel after U.N. vote Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 08:28 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel reassured Israel of her country's support on Saturday, two days after Berlin disappointed the Jewish state by abstaining in a U.N. vote on the Palestinians' status. Germany, which will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many of his ministers next week, abstained in Thursday's vote in the U.N. General Assembly which provided de facto recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state. Netanyahu's government had hoped that Berlin would join the United States and a handful of other countries in opposing the resolution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kuwaitis vote in divisive election after protests Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 08:13 AM PST  KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaitis voted on Saturday in a divisive parliamentary election held under new polling rules that triggered an opposition boycott of the ballot and mass protests. The election is the second this year in the oil-rich Gulf Arab state, where a series of assemblies have collapsed due to a power struggle between elected MPs and the cabinet. Tens of thousands marched on Friday in what organizers said was the largest protest in Kuwaiti history, to urge people to shun the ballot box in protest at a rule change they say will skew the outcome in favor of pro-government candidates. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hamas complains to Egypt after Israeli army kills Gazan Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 08:08 AM PST  GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas accused Israel on Saturday of violating the shaky, Egyptian-brokered Gaza truce of November 21 after Israeli troops killed a Palestinian taking part in a protest at the enclave's border fence. Medical officials said the 21-year-old man had been among six Palestinians wounded by gunfire during Friday's demonstration near southern Rafah, and had later died in hospital. The Israeli military said the Palestinians had tried to vandalize the fortified fence and that soldiers shot at their legs after first trying to warn them away. ... Full Story | Top |
| Internet back on in Damascus, Homs: residents Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 07:51 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Internet was working in Syria's capital of Damascus and the central city of Homs on Saturday, residents said, after a two-day blackout that experts said was highly likely to have been caused by authorities. President Bashar al-Assad's government has been accused before of cutting Internet and telephone connections to block opposition activist and rebel communications during the 20-month-old revolt. Authorities had attributed the latest outage to a "terrorist" attack or a technical fault. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korean rocket launch would be "highly provocative act": U.S. Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 07:45 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday condemned North Korea's plan to carry out its second rocket launch of 2012 as a "highly provocative act" that would threaten peace and violate U.N. sanctions. "A North Korean 'satellite' launch would be a highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland in a written statement. "Any North Korean launch using ballistic missile technology is in direct violation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions," she added. ... Full Story | Top |
| Myanmar govt asks Suu Kyi to investigate mine dispute Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 07:34 AM PST  MONYWA, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's president asked opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday to head an investigation into the planned expansion of a copper mine that has led to evictions and protests that were forcibly put down by riot police this week. Activists said at least 50 people were injured on Thursday, including more than 20 Buddhist monks, after riot police raided camps set up round the Monywa mine in the north west Sagaing region by villagers protesting the evictions. ... Full Story | Top |
| French firms must fight China for stake in Africa: Moscovici Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 07:25 AM PST  ABIDJAN (Reuters) - French companies must go on the offensive and fight the growing influence of rival China for a stake in Africa's increasingly competitive markets, France's Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Saturday. France, which once ruled over much of West Africa as colonial master, continued to exert direct and indirect influence over its ex-colonies for decades through a murky system of patronage known as "Francafrique". However, that regional reach is now being challenged by a new Chinese investment blitz. "It's evident that China is more and more present in Africa... ... Full Story | Top |
| Georgian investigators question former prime minister Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 07:08 AM PST  TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian investigators were questioning former prime minister Vano Merabishvili on Saturday in the latest of a string of legal cases brought against members of the ousted administration of President Mikheil Saakashvili. The detentions of former state officials since billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili's coalition defeated Saakashvili's long-ruling party in parliamentary elections in October has raised opposition complaints of a political witch-hunt. ... Full Story | Top |
| Grand jury probing meningitis-linked pharmacy: newspaper Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 06:51 AM PST  BOSTON (Reuters) - A grand jury is investigating the compounding pharmacy at the heart of a deadly meningitis outbreak, the Boston Globe reported on Saturday. The grand jury has begun issuing subpoenas to people who worked for the New England Compounding Center, which closed after investigators determined it had produced the tainted injectible steroid that has killed 36 people, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed people who formerly worked for the company. ... Full Story | Top |
| Koroma strengthens hand in Sierra Leone parliament Saturday, Dec 01, 2012 06:13 AM PST  FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone's ruling All People's Congress party secured a majority in parliament, results of the November 17 election published late on Friday showed. The party of President Ernest Bai Koroma now controls 67 of the 124 seats in parliament, gaining eight seats. The main opposition, Sierra Leone People's Party took 42 seats, losing three. The SLPP has said the election was fraudulent and that it will boycott parliament. Koroma took 58. ... Full Story | Top |
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