| | |
| United States avoids calamity in "fiscal cliff" drama Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 10:58 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States averted economic calamity on Tuesday when lawmakers approved a deal to prevent huge tax hikes and spending cuts that would have pushed the world's largest economy off a "fiscal cliff" and into recession. The agreement hands a clear victory to President Barack Obama, who won re-election on a promise to address budget woes in part by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. His Republican antagonists were forced to vote against a core tenet of their anti-tax conservative faith. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chavez aware his condition complicated: Vice President Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:35 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is aware that his condition is complicated following a fourth cancer operation in Cuba, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday, as the OPEC nation watches for clues to the socialist leader's health. Maduro said he was returning to Venezuela after spending several days alongside Chavez and members of the president's family. That may help squelch rumors his visit was a sign that the former soldier was near death. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyan Airways flight makes emergency landing in Sudan: witnesses Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 05:14 PM PST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Kenyan Airways plane with 56 passengers on board made an emergency landing in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after an engine caught fire, witnesses said on Wednesday. Nobody was hurt, but the incident on Tuesday night left passengers stranded in a country difficult for travel because credit cards do not work in Sudan due to U.S. trade sanctions. Banks change dollars only at a very unfavorable exchange rate compared with the dominant black market. The Cairo-bound Boeing 737-700 took off in Khartoum after a regular stopover following a flight from Nairobi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq PM warns Sunni protesters, makes small concession Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 02:52 PM PST  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has warned he will not tolerate Sunni anti-government rallies indefinitely, but made a concession to their demands by promising to free some women prisoners. Thousands of Sunnis have been taking to the streets of Iraq for more than a week in protest against Maliki, whom they accuse of discriminating against their sect and being under the sway of their non-Arab Shi'ite neighbor Iran. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans balk at "fiscal cliff" deal Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 02:49 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Last-minute efforts to step back from the "fiscal cliff" ran into trouble on Tuesday as Republicans in the House of Representatives balked at a deal that would prevent Washington from pushing the world's biggest economy into a recession. House Republicans complained that a bill passed by the Senate in a late-night show of unity to prevent a budget crisis contained tax hikes for the wealthiest Americans but no spending cuts. Some conservatives sought to change the bill to add cuts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan launches major dam to boost agricultural production, investment Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 02:47 PM PST ROSEIRIS, Sudan (Reuters) - Sudan launched a major dam project on Tuesday to boost power supply and agricultural irrigation, a plan officials hope will foster farmland exports and attract more Gulf investment to the African country as it battles an economic crisis. Faced with the loss of most of its oil reserves with South Sudan's secession in 2011, Sudan plans to increase exports of agricultural goods, such as wheat, fruits, oil seeds and gum arabic. Oil was the primary source of income for the country's budget as well as dollars needed to fund imports. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ten crushed to death, 120 injured at Angola church event Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 02:13 PM PST LISBON (Reuters) - Ten people were crushed to death and 120 injured in the Angolan capital Luanda as they tried to enter an overcrowded stadium for a vigil organized by a Pentecostal church, the state news agency Angop reported on Tuesday. Angop cited an emergency services spokesman as saying the victims, including four children, were crushed at the gates of the Cidadela Desportiva stadium, where the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (IURD) organized a vigil on Monday night. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate's "fiscal cliff" bill packed with sweeteners Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 01:37 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate packed an eclectic mix of handouts and takebacks into its last-minute deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff," including a measure to repeal part of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare overhaul and a string of special interest tax breaks. At the center of the 157-page bill adopted early Tuesday are provisions to raise taxes on the wealthiest households and to make permanent Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class. The bill now goes to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rival Sudans hold summit on Friday, signal concessions Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 01:26 PM PST  KHARTOUM/JUBA (Reuters) - The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan will meet on Friday to discuss how to improve border security and resume vital oil flows, both sides said on Tuesday as the feuding African neighbors signaled possible concessions. The countries, which fought one of Africa's longest civil wars ending with a peace deal in 2005, signaled concessions ahead of the summit. Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir accepted an invitation from Ethiopia to meet in Addis Ababa, spokesmen for both governments said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian army says 14 die in gun battle with Boko Haram Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 01:22 PM PST MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's military killed 13 members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram and lost one soldier on Tuesday in a gun battle in Maiduguri, the group's northeastern stronghold, the army said. Boko Haram, which is loosely based on the Afghan Taliban, killed hundreds last year in a campaign to impose sharia, or Islamic law, in Nigeria, a country of more than 160 million split roughly equally between Christians and Muslims. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Young, urban Indians find political voice after student's gang rape Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 01:03 PM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - When Preeti Joshi heard of the gang rape of a fellow student, she joined a movement of thousands of outraged young Indians who have taken to the streets of New Delhi almost every day protesting for justice and security for women. Beaten and raped by five men and a teenager on a moving bus in the capital on December 16, the 23-year-old student died from her injuries on Saturday, her plight shaking the conscience of many urban middle class Indians who consider gender rights as important as poverty alleviation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan, South Sudan leaders to hold summit on Friday Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 12:43 PM PST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan will meet on Friday in Ethiopia to discuss how to improve border security and resume cross-border oil flows, both governments said on Tuesday. The African Union will host the summit between Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his southern counterpart Salva Kiir in Addis Ababa, spokesmen for both governments said. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Khalid Abdelaziz; Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| At least 61 crushed to death in Ivory Coast stampede Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 12:38 PM PST  ABIDJAN (Reuters) - At least 61 people were crushed to death in a stampede after a New Year's Eve fireworks display at a stadium in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan early on Tuesday, officials said. Witnesses said police had tried to control crowds around the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium following the celebrations, triggering a panic in which scores were trampled. "The estimate we can give right now is 49 people hospitalized ... and 61 people dead," said the chief of staff of Abidjan's fire department Issa Sacko. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korean leader, in rare address, seeks end to confrontation with South Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 12:04 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for an end to confrontation between the two Koreas, technically still at war in the absence of a peace treaty to end their 1950-53 conflict, in a surprise New Year's broadcast on state media. The address by Kim, who took power in the reclusive state after his father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011, appeared to take the place of the policy-setting New Year's editorial published annually in the past in leading state newspapers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt satirist faces probe for insulting president Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 10:43 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian satirist who made fun of President Mohamed Mursi on television will be investigated by prosecutors following an accusation that he undermined the leader's standing, a judicial source said on Tuesday. Bassem Youssef's case will increase worries about freedom of speech in the post-Hosni Mubarak era, especially when the country's new constitution includes provisions criticized by rights activists for, among other things, forbidding insults. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran warns off foreign planes during naval drill: report Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 09:32 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has warned off foreign surveillance planes that have tried to approach its forces during naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian military spokesman said on Tuesday. The drills, which began on Friday, are aimed at showcasing Iran's military capability in the shipping route through which 40 percent of the world's sea-borne oil exports pass. Iran has threatened to block the strait if it comes under military attack over its disputed nuclear program. The United States has said it would not tolerate any obstruction of commercial traffic through the strait. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Egyptian party set to split Islamist vote further Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 09:22 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Leading members of Egypt's hardline Islamist movement unveiled a new political party on Tuesday, pointing to new rivalries that could split the Islamist vote in an impending parliamentary election. The creation of the al-Watan ('Homeland') Party is part of a political landscape that was dominated by a variety of Islamist parties in the last election a year ago, but is still evolving. ... Full Story | Top |
| India rape victim's ashes scattered, more attacks stoke debate Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 09:10 AM PST  LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - The ashes of an Indian student who died after being gang-raped were scattered in the Ganges river on Tuesday as reports of more attacks stoked a growing national debate on violence against women. The death of the 23-year-old woman, who has not been named, prompted street protests across India, international outrage and promises from the government of tougher punishments for offenders. Police on Tuesday confirmed they would push for the death penalty for her attackers - the force can recommend prosecutors pursue particular punishments in Indian trials. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb kills two, injures 50 in Pakistani city of Karachi Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 08:44 AM PST  KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in a crowded area of Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Tuesday, killing at least two people and wounding 50, police said. Two of the injured were in a critical condition, police spokesman Imran Shaukat said. The bomb appeared to have been planted on a motorbike. It was not immediately clear who or what was the target of the blast in the Aisha Manzil area of Karachi, although a political rally was happening nearby. The explosion was heard several kilometers (miles) away. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cell detained in UAE: paper Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:53 AM PST ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has arrested an "Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cell" that trained local Islamists in how to overthrow Arab governments, a Sharjah-based newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the investigation. The oil-rich Gulf state - of which Sharjah is one part - has previously voiced strong distrust of the Islamist political movement which after long years of being banned took power in free elections in Egypt last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen in Pakistan shoot dead seven aid workers near capital Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:42 AM PST  PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Gunmen ambushed and shot dead six Pakistani women aid workers and a male doctor on Tuesday, police said, and the charity they worked for said it suspected the attacks were linked to recent murders of polio vaccination workers. Their vehicle was raked with gunfire as they returned home from work at a children's community center run by Pakistani charity Ujala, or Light, said district police officer Abdur Rashid Khan. Their driver was seriously wounded in the attack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian government forces go on attack on first day of year Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:41 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Government war planes bombed opposition-held areas of Syria and President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels fought on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on New Year's Day on Tuesday. A year ago, many diplomats and analysts predicted Assad would leave power in 2012. But despite international pressure and rebel gains, he has proved resilient. His inner circle remains largely intact and retains control of the armed forces, even if it relies on air strikes and artillery power to hold back the rebels fighting to overthrow him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi civilian deaths rise in "low-level war": study Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:01 AM PST BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A total of 4,471 civilians died in Iraq's festering "low-level war" with insurgents in 2012, the first annual climb in the death toll in three years, campaigners said on Tuesday. The deaths, up from 4,059 in 2011, showed militant fighters were still bent on carrying out large-scale bomb attacks, said rights group Iraq Body Count (IBC) in its annual report. Tensions between Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni factions in Iraq's power-sharing government have been on the rise this year and the civil war in neighboring Syria is whipping up sectarian tension across the region. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands march against Hong Kong's leader Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 06:16 AM PST  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tens of thousands in Hong Kong protested on Tuesday against the city's leader Leung Chun-ying as pressure mounts against the Beijing-backed politician who has been embroiled in an illegal construction scandal since taking office in July. Thronging the streets on New Year's Day, crowds of people, some dressed in black with colorful banners and wearing long-nosed Pinocchio masks, chanted "Leung Chun-ying step down" in a rally that snaked several kilometers towards government headquarters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Expats who bounce cheques may no longer risk prison in UAE: paper Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 05:53 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Newspapers printed contradictory reports on Tuesday on whether the United Arab Emirates was ending prison terms for foreign nationals living in the Gulf Arab state who write bad cheques. The UAE's tough penalties for defaulting on cheques were relaxed for Emirati citizens in October after a royal decree, but the threat of jail for the country's large expat population remains. In the UAE writing cheques that bounce is a criminal offence instead of a civil one. ... Full Story | Top |
| CAR president urges rebels to let him finish his term Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 05:45 AM PST  BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic President Francois Bozize on Tuesday urged rebels threatening to enter the capital to lay down their arms and let him complete the last three years of his term. Fighters encamped within 75 km (45 miles) of the capital Bangui accuse Bozize of reneging on a 2007 deal to give money and jobs to former rebels, and their leaders are now split over whether to accept an offer of new talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Korean unification may cost South 7 percent of GDP: ministry Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 04:55 AM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - Unification of the two Koreas could cost the South up to 7 percent of annual GDP for a decade though the South would benefit in various ways such as cheap labor and the North's resources, South Korea's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. Korea has been divided since the end of World War Two and the Stalinist North and capitalist South have been fierce rivals since the 1950-53 Korean war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope hopes for 2013 of peace, slams unbridled capitalism Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 04:20 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict said in his New Year's message on Tuesday he hoped 2013 would be a year of peace and that the world was under threat from unbridled capitalism, terrorism and criminality. The 85-year-old pope rang in the new year with a mass for about 10,000 people in St Peter's Basilica on the day the Roman Catholic Church marks its World Day of Peace with initiatives around the world. He also spoke of peace after the mass, addressing tens of thousands of people who had followed the service from outside in St Peter's Square. "A new year is like a trip. ... Full Story | Top |
| Expats who bounce cheques no longer risk prison in UAE: paper Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 01:39 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates will stop imprisoning expatriates for writing cheques that bounce, Abu Dhabi daily The National reported on Tuesday, citing a senior official. The UAE's tough penalties for defaulting on loans, which is a criminal offence in the Gulf Arab monarchy, were relaxed for Emirati citizens in October after a royal decree. "In line with the directives of Sheikh Khalifa... ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment