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| In Indian student's gang rape, murder, two worlds collide Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 10:35 PM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - One of hundreds of attacks reported in New Delhi each year, the brutal gang rape and murder of a young medical student in a private bus this month caught authorities and political parties flat-footed, slow to appreciate it had become symbolic of all the others. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Qaeda in Yemen offers bounty for U.S. ambassador Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 10:10 PM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - The Yemen-based branch of al Qaeda has offered a bounty for anyone who kills the U.S. ambassador to Yemen or an American soldier in the impoverished Arab state, a group that monitors Islamist websites said. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said it was offering three kilograms of gold for the killing of the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa, Gerald Feierstein, the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group said, citing an audio released by militants. AQAP will also pay 5 million rials ($23,350) to whoever kills any American soldier in Yemen, it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hours from "fiscal cliff," Washington still awaits deal Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 10:01 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress comes back on Monday without a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" and only a few hours of actual legislative time scheduled in which to act if an agreement materializes. Negotiations involving Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to offer the last hope for avoiding the across-the-board tax increases and draconian cuts in the federal budget that will be triggered at the start of the New Year because of a deficit-reduction law enacted in August, 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea to restart one of two troubled reactors this week Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:14 PM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will restart one of two nuclear reactors this week after being shut for nearly two months to replace parts which were found to have forged documents, easing power supply concerns as winter bites, the nuclear regulator and operator said. The State-run Nuclear Safety & Security Commission said in a statement on Monday that it had approved the restart of a 1,000-megawatt (MW) reactor in Yeonggwang county, 300 km (186 miles) southwest of the capital Seoul. ... Full Story | Top |
| China academics warn of "violent revolution" if no political reform Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:14 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - A prominent group of Chinese academics has warned in a bold open letter that the country risks "violent revolution" if the government does not respond to public pressure and allow long-stalled political reforms. The 73 scholars, including well-known current and retired legal experts at top universities and lawyers, said political reform had not matched the quick pace of economic expansion. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea parliament expected to approve budget on Monday Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 07:58 PM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's parliament was expected to pass next year's government budget on Monday after slightly expanding welfare spending programs in line with President-elect Park Geun-hye's campaign pledges. Media cited officials at the ruling and main opposition parties as saying they now aimed to put their agreed version up for vote later in the day after winding up debate on minor issues at sub-committee meetings. The value of the 2013 budget bill is expected to rise to about 342.7 trillion won ($320.11 billion) from 342. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chavez suffers new post-surgery complications Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 07:03 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is suffering more complications linked to a respiratory infection that hit him after his fourth cancer operation in Cuba, his vice president said in a somber broadcast on Sunday. Vice President Nicolas Maduro flew to Cuba to visit Chavez in the hospital as supporters' fears grew for the ailing 58-year-old socialist leader, who has not been seen in public nor heard from in three weeks. Chavez had already suffered unexpected bleeding caused by the six-hour operation on December 11 for an undisclosed form of cancer in his pelvic area. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese fishing boat detained in Japan: Xinhua Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 05:32 PM PST  BEIJING (Reuters) - Japan's coastguard detained a Chinese fishing boat within Japanese waters on Sunday evening, China's Xinhua news agency said, citing the Chinese consulate general in Fukuoka, a city in southwestern Japan. The captain of the boat, registered in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, and two crew members have been brought to the southern Japanese city of Kagoshima for questioning, Xinhua said. It said the captain had admitted he was in Japanese waters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fiscal deal stalls as clock ticks to deadline Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 03:04 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Efforts to prevent the economy from tumbling over a "fiscal cliff" stalled on Sunday as Democrats and Republicans remained at loggerheads over a deal that would prevent taxes for all Americans from rising on New Year's Day. One hour before they had hoped to present a plan, Democratic and Republican Senate leaders said they were still unable to reach a compromise that would stop the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that could push the U.S. economy back into recession. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sunni protesters attack Iraq official's convoy, guards wound two Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 12:07 PM PST RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - Bodyguards for Iraq's deputy prime minister wounded two people when they fired warning shots at Sunni protesters who pelted his convoy with bottles and stones on Sunday, witnesses said. The incident took place in the city of Ramadi in the western province of Anbar, to where Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq had travelled to address people in an attempt to defuse sectarian tensions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Attack on Libyan church building kills two Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 12:00 PM PST TRIPOLI (Reuters) - An explosion on Sunday at a building belonging to a Coptic church in western Libya killed two Egyptian men and wounded two others, a military spokesman said. Attackers threw a homemade bomb at an administration building belonging to the Egyptian Coptic church in Dafniya, close to the western city of Misrata, said Ibrahim Rajab of Misrata military council. The Egyptian consul in the city, Tareq Dahrouj, said he had visited the church and the building where the two church workers were killed early on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bomb attempt on Northern Irish policeman foiled Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 11:47 AM PST BELFAST (Reuters) - An attempt by militant nationalists to kill a Northern Irish policeman was foiled when a booby trap bomb was found under his car, police said on Sunday. The attack was the latest by splinter groups of Irish republicans opposed to British rule of the province and a 1998 peace agreement that ended 30 years of sectarian conflict. It came two months after the first murder of a prison officer in almost 20 years and followed two weeks of rioting by pro-British loyalists protesting against restrictions on the flying of Britain's union flag from Belfast City Hall. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain policemen jailed for beating opposition member to death Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 10:33 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Two Bahraini policemen were sentenced to jail for seven years each on Sunday for beating to death a Shi'ite opposition activist in custody during last year's crackdown on protesters. The sentences, reported by state news agency BNA, were criticized as too lenient by critics and may do little to blunt international criticism of human rights abuses since Bahrain's Sunni Muslim rulers quelled a Shi'ite-led uprising last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudanese police block protest at human rights commission Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 09:58 AM PST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese security forces on Sunday blocked activists trying to deliver a petition criticizing the government to the country's human rights commission, drawing a rare rebuke from the state-appointed body. Sudan has avoided mass "Arab Spring" protests that unseated rulers in Egypt and Tunisia, but President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who seized power in 1989, has faced dissent over a severe economic crisis and corruption. ... Full Story | Top |
| Court to rule on legality of Egyptian parliament Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 09:26 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's highest court is to examine the legitimacy of the upper house of parliament, a case likely to increase the legal uncertainty of the country's political transition and leave it without a legislature. The Supreme Constitutional Court has already forced the lower house to dissolve under a June ruling that said an electoral law used to elect both chambers - and which resulted in an Islamist dominated parliament - was unfair. ... Full Story | Top |
| No end to Syria war if sides refuse to talk: envoy Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:56 AM PST  AZAZ, Syria/CAIRO (Reuters) - The international peace negotiator for Syria pleaded with outside countries on Sunday to push the warring parties to the table for talks, warning that the country would become a failed state ruled by warlords unless diplomacy is given a chance. Lakhdar Brahimi, who inherited the seemingly impossible task of bringing an end to the war after his predecessor Kofi Annan resigned in frustration in July, has launched an intensified diplomatic campaign to win backing for a peace plan. He spent five days this week in Damascus, where he met President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic president says ready to share power with rebels Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:40 AM PST  BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's embattled President Francois Bozize said on Sunday he was ready to share power with the leaders of a rebellion that has swept aside government defenses to within striking distance of the capital. The three-week old onslaught by the rebel alliance Seleka has highlighted the instability of the landlocked former French colony, which remains one of the least developed nations on the planet despite its rich deposits of uranium, gold and diamonds. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan militants kill 41 in mass execution, attack on Shi'ites Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:36 AM PST  PESHWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani militants, who have escalated attacks in recent weeks, killed at least 41 people in two separate incidents, officials said on Sunday, challenging assertions that military offensives have broken the back of hardline Islamist groups. The United States has long pressured nuclear-armed ally Pakistan to crack down harder on both homegrown militants groups such as the Taliban and others which are based on its soil and attack Western forces in Afghanistan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic president says ready to form coalition government with rebels Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:35 AM PST BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic President Francois Bozize said on Sunday he was ready to form a coalition government with the Seleka rebel alliance and would not stand for re-election in 2016. He told a news conference following a meeting with African Union Chairman Thomas Yayi Boni in the capital Bangui that he was ready for peace talks in Gabon, without conditions. A three-week-old Seleka rebellion has advanced to within 75 km (45 miles) of Bangui, posing the most serious threat yet to Bozize's nearly 10 years in charge of the turbulent and resource-rich former French colony. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic rebels say aim is not to join government Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:35 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - The Seleka rebel alliance in the Central African Republic will consider an offer by President Francois Bozize on Sunday to form a coalition government, but the group's aim is not to join the existing government, a spokesman said. "I take note of his proposals. We need to meet to study them," Seleka spokesman Eric Massi told France 24 television. He said that the rebels also wanted to see what guarantees would be made to them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Monti's reform path faces test beyond Italy elections Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 07:46 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Mario Monti declared "mission accomplished" when he resigned as Italy's prime minister, having seen off the debt crisis that loomed as he took office just over a year ago but 2013 will test whether he has laid the foundations for lasting economic change. Elections on February 24-25 will give Italian voters their first chance to decide whether they want to stick to the broad course he has set or turn to a growing chorus of politicians who have attacked his austerity medicine. ... Full Story | Top |
| Faulty brakes may be to blame in Russian plane crash Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 07:17 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Faulty brakes may be to blame for a Russian airliner sliding off the runway and smashing onto a highway near Moscow, killing five people, a member of the crash investigation team said on Sunday. Investigators said they were examining the black boxes to try to determine the cause of Saturday's crash, which cracked the wings off the Tupolev-204 plane and split the fuselage clean into three pieces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Body of India rape victim cremated in New Delhi Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:52 AM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The body of a woman, whose gang rape provoked protests and rare national debate about violence against women in India, arrived back in New Delhi on Sunday and was cremated at a private ceremony. Scuffles broke out in central Delhi between police and protesters who say the government is doing too little to protect women. But the 2,000-strong rally was confined to a single area, unlike last week when protests raged up throughout the capital. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany close to arms deal with Saudia Arabia: report Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:31 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government is close to completing a 100 million-euro arms deal with Saudi Arabia to sell 30 armored vehicles, and Berlin's national security council has already signaled its backing, Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday. Quoting sources it said were involved in the negotiations, the newspaper said Saudia Arabia wants to buy a total of 100 of the "Dingo" armored vehicles over the longer term. The armored vehicles are manufactured by Krauss Maffei-Wegmann and Bruker Daltonik from Leipzig, Bild said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel eases ban on building material for Gaza Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:31 AM PST  GAZA (Reuters) - Israel eased its blockade of Gaza on Sunday, allowing a shipment of gravel for private construction into the Palestinian territory for the first time since Hamas seized control in 2007. A Palestinian official with knowledge of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that ended eight days of fighting last month between Israel and Gaza militants said the move had been expected as part of the deal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama: U.S. has good leads on who carried out Benghazi attacks Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:06 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has some "very good leads" about who carried out the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans including the U.S. ambassador in September, President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Obama told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the United States would carry out all of the recommendations put forward in an independent review of the September 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. "We're not going to pretend that this was not a problem. This was a huge problem. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy leftist PM candidate Bersani tops opinion poll, Monti second Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 05:17 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani is favorite among Italians to lead the next government, with outgoing technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti second most popular and Silvio Berlusconi coming a close third, a poll showed on Sunday. Bersani scored 36.2 percent, Monti 23.3 percent and Berlusconi 21.8 percent, the poll, conducted by the CISE electoral research institute for Il Sole 24 Ore daily, found. ... Full Story | Top |
| Five Bangladeshi sentenced to death for Saudi diplomat killing Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 04:25 AM PST DHAKA (Reuters) - A Bangladeshi court sentenced five members of a gang to death on Sunday for killing a Saudi Arabian diplomat in the capital Dhaka last March, court officials said. Khalaf Ali, 45, a second secretary at his embassy, was shot at night near the embassy in Dhaka's diplomatic zone, raising an alarm over the first slaying of a diplomat in the country. Judge Mohammad Motahar Hossain of the quick-trial court issued the verdict for the five men who police said shot Ali while trying to rob him. One of the accused remains on the run from police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel indicts former foreign minister Lieberman Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 03:41 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli far-right leader Avigdor Lieberman was charged on Sunday with fraud and breach of trust, allegations that prompted his resignation as foreign minister two weeks ago, justice officials said. Lieberman, who has denied the accusations, remains head of the Yisrael Beitenu party that has formed a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party ahead of a January 22 parliamentary election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's finance minister Aso to travel to Myanmar, meet president Thein Sein Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 03:29 AM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's deputy prime minister, Taro Aso, travels to Myanmar this week for talks with President Thein Sein to boost relations with the rapidly transforming country and support Japanese business interests in the region. Aso, who doubles as finance minister, meets Thein Sein and his opposite number Win Shein in the capital Naypyitaw on Thursday in the first high-profile overseas visit by a member of Tokyo's new cabinet since it took office last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran showcases special forces during naval drills: report Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 02:25 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian special forces and military diving units practiced defending their ports and coastline against attacks on Sunday, state-linked media reported during naval war games meant to warn off states threatening the Islamic republic. The highly-publicized "Velayat 91" exercises are taking place across a wide area from the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas shipping route, to the Gulf of Oman and northern parts of the Indian Ocean. ... Full Story | Top |
| Old Aleppo, frontline ghost town of ruined treasures Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 01:59 AM PST  ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - A 13th century mosque is shuttered, its tottering minaret struck at the base by a shell. Snipers fire from nests atop the immense stone walls of the citadel, where ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Turkish warriors once perched. Until a few months ago, Old Aleppo was both a living museum and a breathing city, where souk shoppers haggled over spices, books and olive-oil soap beneath wrought-iron filigree balconies and wooden lattice screens. Aleppo is Syria's largest city and economic hub. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel challenger under fire for saying chancellor underpaid Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 01:18 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrueck was widely criticized on Sunday, even by his own center-left Social Democrats (SPD), for saying German leaders were underpaid. Steinbrueck has struggled to gain ground against Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of next September's election, in part due to lingering criticism over him earning 1.25 million euros ($1.65 million) as an after-dinner speaker in the past three years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan blast kills 20 Shia pilgrims in latest sectarian attack Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 01:12 AM PST  QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded on Sunday near a convoy of buses taking Pakistani Shia pilgrims to Iran, killing 20 people and wounding 24, officials said, the latest attack on the minority sect. Witnesses said the blast occurred as the three buses were overtaking a car about 60 km (35 miles) west of Quetta, capital of sparsely populated Baluchistan province, site of many sectarian attacks, near the Iranian border. "The bus next to us caught on fire immediately," said pilgrim Hussein Ali, 60. "We tried to save our companions but were driven back by the intensity of the heat. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. plane stuck in Iran for repairs after emergency landing Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 12:46 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - A small U.S. commercial plane has been stuck in Iran for nearly three weeks after making an emergency landing near the city of Ahvaz, the country's airports director said on Sunday. The plane was forced to land because of technical problems, Mahmoud Rasoulinejad said, quoted by the Mehr news agency. "After landing, the crew traveled on to countries around the Persian Gulf and the plane is currently being repaired," he said. Rasoulinejad did not specify who owned the aircraft, where it was headed or the nationality of the crew members. ... Full Story | Top |
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