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| Japan likely to increase defense spending due to isles row: media Friday, Jan 04, 2013 08:51 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government is likely to increase defense spending for the first time in 11 years, Japanese media reported on Saturday, as newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledges a sterner response to a territorial dispute with China. The government is considering increasing defense spending by around 2 percent to more than 4.7 trillion yen ($53.4 billion) in the fiscal year starting in April, the Mainichi newspaper reported. It gave no source for its information. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chavez swearing-in can be delayed: Venezuelan VP Friday, Jan 04, 2013 06:40 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's formal swearing-in for a new six-year term scheduled for January 10 can be postponed if he is unable to attend due to his battle to recover from cancer surgery, Venezuela's vice president said on Friday. Nicolas Maduro's comments were the clearest indication yet that the Venezuelan government is preparing to delay the swearing-in while avoiding naming a replacement for Chavez or calling a new election in the South American OPEC nation. In power since 1999, the 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public for more than three weeks. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council voices worry about Central African Republic rebels Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:59 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council voiced alarm on Friday at an advance by rebels in Central African Republic that has brought them within striking distance of the mineral-rich nation's capital, and renewed its call for a negotiated solution to the crisis. Central African Republic President Francois Bozize will refuse to leave power during talks with the Seleka rebel alliance, his spokesman said on Thursday, rejecting the insurgents' main demand and raising the prospect of a return to fighting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Northern Irish fighting rages on as rioters branded "a disgrace" Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:55 PM PST  BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Irish police came under attack by pro-British loyalists on Friday as the province's first minister branded rioters "a disgrace" and said they were playing into the hands of rival militant nationalists. Rioting began a month ago after a vote by mostly nationalist pro-Irish councilors to end the century-old tradition of flying the British flag from Belfast City Hall every day unleashed the most sustained period of violence in the city for years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria blames "terrorists" for deadly petrol station blast Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:26 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria said on Friday a car bomb at a crowded petrol station in Damascus was set off by "terrorists", a term it uses for rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad. The blast on Thursday night killed 11 people and wounded 40 at a station packed with Syrians queuing for fuel, which has become scarce in the 21-month insurgency against Assad, in the second petrol station attack in the capital this week, opposition activists said. "Terrorists ... ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. missile teams in Turkey, missiles come later Friday, Jan 04, 2013 02:51 PM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers who will man Patriot anti-missile batteries to protect Turkey from the spillover of Syria's civil war began arriving in the country on Friday, the U.S. military said, but the missiles themselves are due later. Turkey formally asked NATO for the missiles in November to bolster security along its 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria, which has been torn by a 21-month insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Monti unveils alliance, rules out minister role Friday, Jan 04, 2013 02:41 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Friday unveiled the alliance he will lead into February's parliamentary election and said he was unlikely to agree to serve as a minister in another premier's cabinet after the vote. The 69-year-old former European commissioner, who replaced Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister in November 2011 when Italy was scrambling to avert a financial crisis, announced last week that he would run for a second term. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leaders of Sudan, South Sudan start talks to defuse tension Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:54 PM PST  ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan met late on Friday to try to defuse hostility that has simmered since the south broke away in 2011 and restart cross-border oil flows to rescue their crumbling economies. No details emerged as Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir met in the presence of Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn who is trying to mediate between the neighbors who came close to war in April. Both leaders will meet alone for the first time at a summit on Saturday, Sudan's state news agency SUNA said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy PM Monti says not eyeing role of finance minister in next government Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:05 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Friday he was aiming to lead the next government and he was unlikely to agree to be economy minister in another premier's cabinet after February elections. "I do not think I would have the motivation to commit myself to serve a government that did not agree with me on at least 98 percent of policy," he said when asked whether he would consider the role of economy minister in an interview on La 7 television. (Reporting By Catherine Hornby) Full Story | Top |
| Church of England ends ban on gay bishops Friday, Jan 04, 2013 12:58 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - The Church of England has lifted a ban on gay male clergy who live with their partners from becoming bishops on condition they pledge to stay celibate, threatening to reignite an issue that splits the 80-million-strong global Anglican community. The issue of homosexuality has driven a rift between Western and African Anglicans since a Canadian diocese approved blessings for same-sex couples in 2002 and U.S. Anglicans in the Episcopal Church appointed an openly gay man as a bishop in 2003. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani girl shot by Taliban leaves British hospital Friday, Jan 04, 2013 12:56 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' education has been discharged from a British hospital after doctors said she was well enough to spend time recovering with her family. Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban in October and brought to Britain for treatment, was discharged on Thursday but is due to be re-admitted in late January or early February for reconstructive surgery to her skull, doctors said. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Nobody helped us for an hour:" Indian rape witness Friday, Jan 04, 2013 12:53 PM PST NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Passers-by left a gang-raped Indian student lying unclothed and bleeding in the street for almost an hour, a male friend who was assaulted with her said on Friday in his first public comments on the case that provoked a global outcry. The 23-year-old student died in hospital two weeks after she was attacked on December 16 in a private bus in New Delhi, prompting street protests over the Indian authorities' failure to stem rampant violence against women. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hunt begins for British Spitfires buried in Myanmar Friday, Jan 04, 2013 11:52 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - A British farmer is heading to Myanmar to lead efforts to unearth more than 30 Spitfire fighter planes, 17 years after he first heard rumors they were buried under a World War Two airfield. Among the 21-strong team accompanying flying buff David Cundall on Saturday will be Stanley Coombe, now in his early 90s, who was stationed in Myanmar at the end of the war and saw crates of Spitfires being buried under Mingaladon airfield. Why 36 planes, or more, were buried is a source of much speculation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Grenade kills two in world's biggest refugee camp in Kenya Friday, Jan 04, 2013 10:53 AM PST ISIOLO, Kenya (Reuters) - Two people were killed on Friday by a hand grenade thrown at men chewing narcotic leaf inside the world's largest refugee camp near Kenya's border with Somalia, a local government official said. The men targeted were chewing khat, a mild narcotic popular among Somalis, in the early evening in a restaurant in the Dadaab camp, District Commissioner Albert Kimathi said. "Two people are dead. We are yet to establish the motive of the attack and no arrests have been made so far," Kimathi said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan sees opportunity in Myanmar's emerging economy Friday, Jan 04, 2013 10:42 AM PST  YANGON (Reuters) - Japan's deputy prime minister confirmed fresh financial aid for Myanmar on Friday during a visit to an industrial zone that underlined the long-isolated nation's growing importance as an economic partner. With a land mass as large as Britain and France combined, Myanmar shares borders with 40 percent of the world's population in India, China, Bangladesh and Thailand. President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government has enacted reforms since it took over from a long-ruling military junta nearly two years ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamists pursue own agenda in Iraq's Sunni protests Friday, Jan 04, 2013 09:02 AM PST  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Street protests in Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland pose a new challenge to Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as shock waves from the Sunni-led insurgency in nearby Syria strain his country's fragile political balance. Over the past two weeks, tens of thousands of Sunnis have staged demonstrations, and in Anbar province they have blocked a highway to Syria in a show of anger against Maliki, whom they accuse of marginalizing their community and monopolizing power. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU says Iran not responded to nuclear talks proposal Friday, Jan 04, 2013 08:52 AM PST  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union has proposed a time and place for further talks on Iran's nuclear program, but Iran has yet to respond, an EU spokesman said on Friday. Iran said earlier on Friday it had agreed to resume talks in January with six major powers - represented by the EU - but the EU spokesman said Tehran had not yet replied to proposals made on December 31. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portuguese Socialists challenge 2013 budget in court Friday, Jan 04, 2013 08:49 AM PST LISBON (Reuters) - Lawmakers from Portugal's opposition Socialist Party challenged parts of the 2013 budget in the Constitutional Court on Friday, a move that could hamper government efforts to meet the terms of the country's bailout. Some 50 of the Socialists' 74 lawmakers, including party leader Antonio Jose Seguro, signed the petition sent to the court, arguing cuts to pensions, civil servants' salaries and welfare benefits undermine workers basic rights. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey ruling party sees progress in Kurd rebel talks Friday, Jan 04, 2013 08:36 AM PST ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish officials have made "important progress" in talks with jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan to try to end a near three-decade insurgency by his supporters, a senior ruling party official said on Friday. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's chief adviser said on Monday Turkey had begun discussing disarmament with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, and on Thursday two Kurdish lawmakers paid a rare visit to Ocalan in his island prison. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ghana leader appeals to rivals for unity before inauguration Friday, Jan 04, 2013 08:11 AM PST  ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's president called for political unity on Friday, reaching out to rivals who are contesting his election due to suspicions of vote rigging. John Dramani Mahama, a former vice president who took office in July after the death of President John Atta Mills, won a December 7 election and is due to be sworn in on Monday along with a new parliament. "For the long-term survival of our nation, we must agree and commit to a multi-partisan process," Mahama said in a speech to parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian police say Hyundai paid some $190,000 for hostages Friday, Jan 04, 2013 07:37 AM PST ABUJA (Reuters) - An arrested gang leader told Nigerian authorities that South Korean firm Hyundai Heavy Industries paid a 30 million naira ($192,100) ransom to release six workers kidnapped in Nigeria's oil region last month, police said on Friday. Gunmen kidnapped four South Korean and two Nigerian men at a Hyundai Heavy building on December 17, in southern oil-producing Bayelsa state. They were released five days later. Hyundai Heavy Industries was not immediately available for comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insurgent attacks in northeast Nigeria leave 13 dead Friday, Jan 04, 2013 07:36 AM PST MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - At least 13 people were killed in attacks on government targets over two days in northeast Nigeria, where security forces are waging a growing battle against Islamist militants, army and police said on Friday. Unknown gunmen fired on an army post in the town of Marte on Wednesday, while suspected insurgents used grenades and bombs against government and police offices in Adamawa state on Thursday, security forces said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's top tabloid scolds Argentina over the Falklands Friday, Jan 04, 2013 07:31 AM PST  BUENOS AIRES/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest-selling newspaper had a simple message for Argentina in an editorial published on Friday in the South American country: "HANDS OFF" the Falkland Islands. The seven-paragraph epistle, penned by the populist Sun tabloid and published in Argentina's main English language newspaper, came in response to fresh demands from President Cristina Fernandez to open talks over the sovereignty of the South Atlantic archipelago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nepal protests UK arrest of colonel accused of torture Friday, Jan 04, 2013 07:20 AM PST KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's government summoned the British ambassador on Friday to call for the immediate release of an army colonel arrested in Britain over allegations of torture committed during a Maoist insurgency in the Himalayan nation. Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said British police arrested Colonel Kumar Lama, 46, on Thursday. Media reports said he was detained during a vacation from a United Nations mission in Sudan. "We express strong objection to this mistake and urge that it be corrected ... and Lama be released," Shrestha told reporters in Kathmandu. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemeni tribesmen protest against drone strikes Friday, Jan 04, 2013 07:06 AM PST SANAA/ADEN (Reuters) - Dozens of armed tribesmen took to the streets in southern Yemen on Friday to protest against drone strikes that they say have killed innocent civilians and increased anger against the United States. A drone killed at least three suspected al Qaeda militants including a local commander in the town of Redaa on Thursday, the fifth strike by a pilotless plane in the area in 10 days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Rousseff's bet - Brazil has atoned for economic sins Friday, Jan 04, 2013 06:34 AM PST  (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff's big bet in 2013 is that Brazil has matured enough to escape from a financial straitjacket that markets have imposed since the 1990s, when inflation soared beyond 2,000 percent and the state was virtually bankrupt. Since that chaotic era, Brazil has played by a more conservative set of rules than most modern economies - with laws that tightly regulate government spending, interest rates exceeding 40 percent on consumer loans, and other rules and practices designed to reduce financial risks and ensure the bad times don't return. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt seizes anti-tank, anti-aircraft rockets in Sinai Friday, Jan 04, 2013 06:23 AM PST ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities have seized six anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets in the Sinai peninsula that smugglers may have intended to send to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, security sources said on Friday. They said the rockets, taken from a cache in central Sinai late on Thursday, were "modern", but did not disclose their origin. No smugglers were found in the area. ... Full Story | Top |
| Under pressure, Hungary PM drops contested voting rules Friday, Jan 04, 2013 06:07 AM PST  BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's ruling Fidesz party abandoned plans to force voters to register for parliamentary elections before the 2014 poll, after the Constitutional Court threw out the measure saying it limited voting rights. The Constitutional Court ruling and Friday's retreat represent a major blow to conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who swept to power with a two-thirds majority in 2010 parliamentary elections but has since suffered a fall in public support. ... Full Story | Top |
| Romania prime minister says cuts needed after GDP overestimated Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:56 AM PST  BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's government will have to cut 1 billion lei (nearly $300 million) from its budget spending this year because the country's 2011 economic output was overestimated, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Friday. Romania's 2011 gross domestic product was overestimated by 20 billion lei ($5.9 billion), said Ponta, who won an overwhelming election victory in December. The European Union's second-poorest state, which has a 5 billion euros aid deal led by the International Monetary Fund, targets a budget deficit of 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lebanon asks for $180 million to aid Syrian refugees Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:50 AM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon, now a haven for 170,000 Syrians fleeing civil war, has asked foreign donors for $180 million to help care for them and said it will register and recognize refugees after a year-long hiatus. The Beirut government has officially sought to "dissociate" itself from the 21-month-old struggle in Syria, nervous about the destabilizing impact of the increasingly sectarian conflict in its bigger neighbor on its own delicate communal balance. But there has been pressure from humanitarian agencies and the public to do more to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portugal Socialists challenge 2013 budget in court Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:40 AM PST LISBON (Reuters) - Lawmakers from Portugal's opposition Socialist party challenged the 2013 budget in the Constitutional Court on Friday, a move that could hamper government efforts to meet the terms of the country's bailout. The government already faces rising public anger at the largest tax hikes in memory, due to take effect this year, and legal challenges to the budget could raise uncertainty regarding the bailed-out country's finances. President Anibal Cavaco Silva sent a similar but unrelated query to the same court this week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Abbas sees Palestinian unity as Fatah rallies in Gaza Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:27 AM PST  GAZA (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas predicted the end of a five-year split between the two big Palestinian factions as his Fatah movement staged its first mass rally in Gaza with the blessing of Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave. "Soon we will regain our unity," Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the 2007 civil war between the two factions, said in a televised address to hundreds of thousands of followers marching in Gaza on Friday, with yellow Fatah flags instead of the green of Hamas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel's FDP partners scramble to avoid electoral oblivion Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:26 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Free Democrats have spent more time in government than any other party since World War Two. Now, Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition partners are struggling to avoid dropping out of parliament altogether. With its novice leader under fire, the liberal, pro-business party meets in Stuttgart this weekend to try to stop the rot before a general election that could wipe it out. If the party, as polls currently indicate, falls short of the 5 percent threshold in the federal vote, it will be ejected from parliament for the first time since its founding in 1948. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea trip to be "private" mission: former U.S. diplomat Richardson Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:17 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson said on Friday he and Google executive Eric Schmidt will make a "private humanitarian visit" to North Korea, partly aimed at securing the release of an American detainee there. "The objective of the trip is a private humanitarian visit. We're not representing the U.S. government," Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on CBS' "This Morning" show. His remarks come a day after U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Man charged with spying for Israel in Yemen Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:15 AM PST ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - A man with Yemeni and Israeli identity documents has been charged in Yemen with spying for Israel, official sources said on Friday. The defense ministry's newspaper said the man was arrested three weeks ago in the city of Taiz after a period of surveillance. Citing a judicial source, it identified him as Ibrahim al-Dharahi, a 24-year-old computer engineer. Dharani was charged with working for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. His case will be referred to the criminal court in the port city of Aden the coming days, the source told the September 26 newspaper. ... Full Story | Top |
| Seven dead in Nigerian army clash with insurgents Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:57 AM PST MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Seven people were killed during an insurgent attack on government soldiers in northeast Nigeria, where security forces are fighting Islamist militants, the army said on Friday. At least 44 people have been killed in this restive region of Africa's top oil producer over the last two weeks in clashes between fighters suspected of belonging to Islamist sect Boko Haram and security forces. "Gunmen attacked 21 brigade troops location at Marte. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zimbabwe stops foreign-owned farm seizures, cites lawsuits Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:56 AM PST HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government said on Friday it will not seize any more foreign-owned farms after losing multi-million-dollar compensation claims under a treaty aimed at protecting overseas investments. President Robert Mugabe started giving white-owned farms to landless blacks over a decade ago, a policy that had the unintended result of devastating food output in a country that had been a regional breadbasket. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali Islamist group says ends ceasefire with government Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:32 AM PST DAKAR (Reuters) - Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine said it has suspended a ceasefire it agreed with Mali's government last month, accusing Bamako of making a mockery of peace talks by gearing up for war. Ansar Dine is one of the main armed groups controlling northern Mali's vast desert since a rebellion in April that Western and regional powers fear could provide a haven for Islamist radicals to plot international attacks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hungary's ruling party backtracks on voter registration Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:10 AM PST BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's ruling Fidesz party has abandoned plans to introduce a registration of voters for the next elections after the country's top court said the measure imposed undue limitations on voting rights and was unconstitutional. Antal Rogan, head of Fidesz's parliamentary group, was cited by national news agency MTI announcing the decision after the court's ruling was published earlier on Friday. (Reporting by Krisztina Than/Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Louise Ireland) Full Story | Top |
| South Korea says Japan must heal wounds of wartime excesses Friday, Jan 04, 2013 02:54 AM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's president-elect said on Friday that Japan needed to come to terms with its colonial history as tension between two Asian allies of the United States simmered over Japan's rule of Korea and an island dispute. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a December 31 interview he wanted to issue a statement that would supersede a landmark 1995 apology for Japan's military aggression, a move bound to raise hackles in South Korea, ruled by Japan from 1910-1945, and in China, where bitter wartime memories run deep. ... Full Story | Top |
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