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| Thai Election Commission suggests minimum one month vote delay Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 11:52 PM PST  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's Election Commission said a contentious election planned for next week should be postponed for at least a month, warning of more bloodshed after violent clashes over the weekend. The commission meets embattled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Tuesday to discuss the election date after a Constitutional Court ruling opened the way for a delay in the face of months of anti-government protests in the capital. We don't want it to be bloody," Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, a Commission member, told Reuters on Monday. Interior Minister Jarupong Ruangsuwan, also head of the ruling Puea Thai Party, told Reuters the government would not back down on the date. Full Story | Top |
| Syria talks bring offer of exit from siege of Homs Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 06:24 PM PST  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The Syrian government said women and children could leave the besieged rebel city of Homs on Sunday as negotiators from the warring sides discussed humanitarian gestures on a second day of face-to-face talks in Geneva. Government and opposition delegates also spoke of releasing prisoners and enabling access for aid convoys during what the U.N. mediator acknowledged was a slow process but one which he hopes will lead on Monday to broaching the central issue that divides them after three years of civil war - namely Syria's political future and that of President Bashar al-Assad. Homs, occupying a strategic location in the center of the country, has been a key battleground. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told a news conference after Sunday's meetings that the government would let women and children leave the city center if rebels gave them safe passage. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. carries out air strike in Somalia targeting militant suspect Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 09:50 PM PST The U.S. military carried out a missile strike in Somalia on Sunday targeting a suspected militant leader with ties to al Qaeda and al Shabaab, a U.S. military official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The strike took place in southern Somalia, the official said, without offering further information, including the identity of the suspect or whether the strike was believed to have been successful. Another U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation took place in a remote area near Barawe, Somalia. Barawe, a militant stronghold on Somalia's southern coast, was the site of a failed raid by American commandos in October targeting a militant known as Ikrima. Full Story | Top |
| AT&T says does not intend to bid for Vodafone Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 11:36 PM PST  U.S. mobile operator AT&T said on Monday it was not planning to take over Britain's Vodafone, making its intentions clear after a request from the takeover panel following months of speculation. The statement to the London Stock Exchange rules out the second-largest mobile service provider in the United States from buying Vodafone for the next six months. However the group can still make an offer if Vodafone's board agrees to it, or if a third party enters the fray. "AT&T notes the recent speculation regarding a potential transaction involving Vodafone Group Plc," it said in a short statement. Full Story | Top |
| French DJ duo Daft Punk, teenage Lorde take top Grammys Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 10:40 PM PST  By Mary Milliken and Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two unconventional acts, French electronic music DJs Daft Punk and New Zealand teen Lorde, took home the top Grammy awards on Sunday in a night that rewarded robots and newcomers, and recognized marriage equality. In a first for the Grammys or any big U.S. awards show, thirty-three couples, both same-sex and straight, were married by singer Queen Latifah, to the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis gay rights anthem, "Same Love." Madonna emerged in a white suit and cowboy hat to conclude the singing ceremony with "Open Your Heart." The music industry's glamorous gathering also saw the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, come together for a rare joint performance coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the British group's breakthrough on American television. Full Story | Top |
| Snowden says 'significant threats' to his life Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 03:24 PM PST  By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden told German TV on Sunday about reports that U.S. government officials want to assassinate him for leaking secret documents about the NSA's collection of telephone records and emails. In what German public broadcaster ARD said was Snowden's first television interview, Snowden also said he believes the NSA has monitored other top German government officials along with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Snowden told ARD that he felt there are "significant threats" to his life but he said that he nevertheless sleeps well because he believes he did the right thing by informing the public about the NSA's activities. Full Story | Top |
| Police name gunman in Maryland mall shooting; motive still unclear Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 06:00 PM PST  By Alice Popovici COLUMBIA, Maryland (Reuters) - A gunman who shot and killed two people at a Maryland mall was a 19-year-old who lived with his mother in a nearby Washington suburb and arrived at the shopping center in a taxi about an hour before opening fire, police said on Sunday. But a day after Saturday's shootings, police could provide no immediate insight into why Darion Marcus Aguilar killed a young man and a young woman at the mall in Columbia, Maryland, about 20 miles west of Baltimore, before apparently killing himself. Police have found no evidence that Aguilar, of College Park, Maryland, knew the two victims who worked at a clothing and skateboard shop at the mall, Howard County Police Chief Bill McMahon told a Sunday evening news conference. Aguilar fired six to eight shots from a 12-gauge shotgun, killing Brianna Benlolo, 21, also of College Park, and Tyler Johnson, 25, of Mount Airy, Maryland, police said. Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia approves new constitution, appoints government Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 08:04 PM PST  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's national assembly approved the country's new constitution on Sunday in one of the last steps to establishing full democracy three years after the uprising that toppled autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Just before the constitution vote, Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa appointed a caretaker cabinet as part of a deal to end a crisis between Tunisia's Islamist party and its secular opposition until new elections this year. Tunisia's new constitution and progress contrasts sharply with messy transitions in Libya, Egypt and Yemen which are still caught up in turmoil after ousting their own long-standing leaders in 2011 revolts and uprisings. "This constitution was the dream of Tunisians, this constitution is proof of the revival of the revolution, this constitution creates a democratic civil nation," Assembly chief Mustapha Ben Jaafar said. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Emerging market pain not about to faze U.S.-focused Fed Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 04:14 PM PST  By Jonathan Spicer NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve, intent on cutting its stimulus again this week, is not about to blink in the face of a brutal selloff of emerging market assets that could yet gain steam in Turkey, Argentina and elsewhere. Though the central bank's 16-month-old bond-buying program is meant to boost the U.S. economy, in the past it has lifted currencies and stocks in emerging markets that have benefited from a rush of international investment and the resulting lower interest rates. Now that the Fed intends to wind down the unprecedented policy accommodation by later this year, those markets - especially in countries with large current account deficits - have dropped hard, prompting policy responses late last week from central banks around the world. But the turmoil would probably have to escalate dramatically and start to hurt the United States for the Fed, focused on domestic improvements in the world's largest economy, to back down from trimming the asset-purchase program known as quantitative easing, or QE. Full Story | Top |
| New clashes as Ukraine's president tries to tempt opposition Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 12:14 PM PST  By Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets KIEV (Reuters) - Police clashed with protesters in central Kiev on Sunday and the fate of Ukraine's government was uncertain after embattled President Viktor Yanukovich offered important posts to opposition leaders, including the role of prime minister. The demonstrations erupted late last year when Yanukovich ditched landmark agreements with the European Union and opted instead for closer ties with Russia. Emboldened opposition leaders said they would press for more concessions, including early elections, setting the stage for a tough political battle when parliament meets for a special session on Tuesday. The two-month standoff has sparked the worst violence in Ukraine since it won independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed. Full Story | Top |
| Thai anti-government protester killed, adds to doubts over election Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 01:31 PM PST  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai anti-government protest leader was shot and killed in Bangkok on Sunday when violence erupted as demonstrators blocked early voting in many areas of the capital ahead of a disputed election next week. It brought the death toll to 10, with scores wounded, since protesters took to the streets in November, vowing to shut down the capital and force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office. A spokesman for the national police, Piya Utayo, identified the dead man as Suthin Tharatin, one of the protest leaders. Yingluck called the February 2 election, hoping to cement her hold on power, but the protests have continued and the Election Commission has been pushing to delay the vote. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. threatens sanctions to curb Central African Republic conflict Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 05:14 PM PST  The United States is deeply concerned with the escalation in clashes in Central African Republic and is prepared to impose targeted sanctions against those responsible for the religious-based violence, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Sunday. At least eight people were killed in mob violence in the capital Bangui on Sunday, the country's Red cross said. A Muslim former minister was hacked to death on Friday by militia, and at least nine others were killed when bands of people, some of them Christian groups, attacked and looted shops in a mostly Muslim neighborhood in the capital. "The United States is prepared to consider targeted sanctions against those who further destabilize the situation, or pursue their own selfish ends by abetting or encouraging the violence," Kerry said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu would let Israeli settlers live in future Palestine: report Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 02:42 PM PST  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will insist that Jewish settlers in the West Bank have a right to remain under Palestinian rule in any future peace deal, a government official was quoted as saying on Sunday. The apparent trial balloon, reported on the English-language Times of Israel website, drew a no-comment from a spokesman for Netanyahu and angry words from Naftali Bennett, a key pro-settlement partner in his governing coalition. The Israeli report quoted an official in Netanyahu's office as saying he did not intend to uproot Jewish settlements anywhere in the West Bank, land that Palestinians seek for a state under U.S.-brokered peace talks showing few signs of progress since they resumed in July after a three-year break. Netanyahu would "insist that settlers be given the free choice of remaining in place and living under Palestinian rule, or relocating to areas under Israeli sovereign rule," the official was quoted as saying. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt calls early presidential election as violence spreads Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 08:12 AM PST  By Asma Alsharif and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will hold a presidential vote before parliamentary polls, President Adly Mansour said on Sunday, in a change to a political roadmap that could pave the way for the swift election of army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Parliamentary elections were supposed to be held first under the timetable drawn up after the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July following mass protests against his rule. The decision to revise the order of elections is likely to deepen tensions in Egypt, which is struggling to cope with waves of political violence. Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi planes, artillery strike rebel-held Falluja Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 01:04 PM PST  By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi government forces battling al Qaeda-linked militants intensified air strikes and artillery fire on the rebel-held city of Falluja on Sunday, and at least seven people were killed, according to hospital officials and tribal leaders. Religious and tribal leaders in the city, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, said they feared an imminent assault by the army to expel militants and end a three-week standoff that has driven thousands of people from their homes. Iraqi security forces have set up a loose cordon around Falluja and have clashed sporadically with insurgents inside. "There is no time left for talks and we're afraid a military solution is looming," said a local cleric in Falluja, the scene of two major battles with U.S. troops in 2004. Full Story | Top |
| Syria talks bring offer of exit from siege of Homs Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 12:43 PM PST  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The Syrian government said women and children could leave the besieged rebel city of Homs on Sunday as negotiators from the warring sides discussed humanitarian gestures on a second day of face-to-face talks in Geneva. Government and opposition delegates also spoke of releasing prisoners and enabling access for aid convoys during what the U.N. mediator acknowledged was a slow process but one which he hopes will lead on Monday to broaching the central issue that divides them after three years of civil war - namely Syria's political future and that of President Bashar al-Assad. Homs, occupying a strategic location in the center of the country, has been a key battleground. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told a news conference after Sunday's meetings that the government would let women and children leave the city center if rebels gave them safe passage. Full Story | Top |
| Police identify gunman in Maryland mall shooting, motive unclear Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 01:20 PM PST  By Alice Popovici COLUMBIA, Maryland (Reuters) - A gunman who shot and killed two people at a Maryland mall was a 19-year-old man who lived with his mother in the city of College Park and arrived at the shopping center in a taxi about an hour before opening fire, police said on Sunday. But a day after Saturday's shootings, police could provide no immediate insight into why Darion Marcus Aguilar killed a young man and a young woman at the mall in Columbia, Maryland, about 20 miles west of Baltimore, before apparently killing himself. Police have yet to find any ties between Aguilar and the two people he killed, employees at a skate shop at the mall, Howard County Police Chief Bill McMahon told a Sunday morning news conference. "We do know that one of our victims also lived in College Park," McMahon said. Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Abe says China's prosperity rests on trust, not tensions Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 10:29 AM PST  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said China's continued economic growth will require building trust, not tensions, with other countries, according to an interview broadcast on Sunday. A steady Chinese military buildup over the last 20 years is a serious concern for countries in the region, Abe said in a CNN interview from Davos, Switzerland, where tensions between Tokyo and Beijing were on display at the World Economic Forum last week. "For China to continue to enjoy economic prosperity, it needs to foster trusting international relationships, not tensions," Abe said on the "Fareed Zakaria GPS" program. "And it is important for China to understand this." "Military expansion will contribute nothing to China's future, its economic growth or prosperity." Abe's top priority since taking office more than a year ago has been reviving a sluggish economy, but he has also pledged to strengthen Japan's military in response to China's rapid military buildup and recent actions to back its claim to Japanese-held islands in the East China Sea. Full Story | Top |
| Snowden won't return to U.S. without amnesty, says legal adviser Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 10:03 AM PST  Edward Snowden would be willing to enter talks with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to negotiate his return to the United States but not without a guarantee of amnesty, his legal adviser said on Sunday. Jesselyn Radack said she was glad Holder indicated last week he would talk to lawyers for the former U.S. spy agency contractor to negotiate his return from Moscow, but that Snowden would need better protection. "It's a little disheartening that he (Holder) seemed to take clemency and amnesty off the table, which are two of the negotiating points," said Radack, who was interviewed via satellite from Moscow by NBC's "Meet the Press". Holder said in an interview on MSNBC on Thursday the United States would not consider the idea of amnesty for Snowden "where we say, no harm, no foul". Full Story | Top |
| Obama to use speech to offer election-year agenda for Democrats Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 08:54 AM PST  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama may not say it in his State of the Union speech this week, but part of his underlying message will be: Please vote for Democrats in the November elections. Obama's big speech on Tuesday will be his sixth foray into the House of Representatives chamber to lay out his policy priorities for the year. This year's address is critical to forming a narrative on which Democrats can campaign this year. And Obama wants to bolster his standing after a rocky end-of-the-year controversy over the botched rollout of his signature healthcare law, and the tumult surrounding a government shutdown. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Emerging markets rout a reality check for Davos elite Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 04:10 AM PST  By Paul Carrel and Ben Hirschler DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Just as they were getting their swagger back, the global elite stumbled last week on an emerging market sell-off that served as a reminder of the risks the global economy still faces. Veterans of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos seized on the wobble as a warning that expectations for a smooth upswing were misplaced, and that recovery would likely be volatile and uneven. The euro zone crisis is out of its acute phase and growth is returning across the developed world but a revival fuelled largely by vast amounts of new central bank money is a capricious one. The prospect of the U.S. Federal Reserve turning off its money taps this year, combined with political troubles in several emerging markets, drove last week's sell-off and exposed some of the unresolved problems in both developing and advanced economies. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: BP back in favor despite spill legacy, Russia doubts Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 12:54 PM PST  By Andrew Callus LONDON (Reuters) - If you had spent 10 pounds on BP shares on April 19, 2010, you would have just nine pounds now, including dividends. A poor investment, however you cut it, but also a remarkable recovery. A day later an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico would deal the United States its worst offshore oil spill, and BP would face the wrath of President Barack Obama himself for the death and destruction it caused. Over the next two months, BP shares lost nearly two thirds of their value as the scale of the disaster threatened to sink the company. Full Story | Top |
| Thai anti-government protester killed, adds to doubts over election Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 12:37 PM PST By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai anti-government protest leader was shot and killed in Bangkok on Sunday when violence erupted as demonstrators blocked early voting in many areas of the capital ahead of a disputed election next week. It brings the death toll to 10, with scores wounded, since protesters took to the streets in November, vowing to shut down the capital and force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office. A spokesman for the national police, Piya Utayo, identified the dead man as Suthin Tharatin, one of the protest leaders. Yingluck called the February 2 election, hoping to cement her hold on power but the protests have continued and the Election Commission has been pushing to delay the vote. Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Berlusconi opts for wrinkles in new image switch Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 03:43 AM PST  Former premier Silvio Berlusconi, famed for his face lifts and hair implants, has opted for a sharp image change in reaction to the rise of younger rival Matteo Renzi, agreeing to be shown wrinkled and without make-up by a UK newspaper on Sunday. The Sunday Times carried a portrait of 77-year-old center-right leader entitled "Silvio Berlusconi after the fall" by photographer Paul Stuart on the front page of its colour supplement. "Il Cavaliere proud of his age", said Il Giornale, a paper owned by Berlusconi's family, using the widely-used nickname for the media billionaire who was decorated with the title "Cavaliere del Lavoro" for his services to industry in 1977. Other Italian newspapers minutely dissected the portrait and concluded that the rise of Renzi, the 39-year-old mayor of Florence who has shaken up Italian politics since winning the leadership of the center-left Democratic Party, had persuaded Berlusconi to make a virtue of his own age. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Britain's car industry may inspire more balanced economic recovery Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 02:10 AM PST  By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - A bumper year for Britain's car industry offers some hope the economy will start to grow in a more sustainable way, with a better balance between investment and spending. In 2013, Britain enjoyed its best year of economic growth since the financial crisis, outpacing other advanced nations. A smooth transition to longer-lasting growth, propelled by business investment and exports, is a key hurdle for 2014 according to the Bank of England. The car industry is showing signs of leading the way - but there have been false starts before. Full Story | Top |
| Twelve dead in fresh violence in China's Xinjiang Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 03:10 AM PST By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police shot dead six people during a "terrorist" attack in the restive western region of Xinjiang and six more died when explosives they were carrying detonated, state media said, as officials accused a prominent academic of aiding militants. Police came under attack on Friday by a group throwing explosive devices in Xinhe county, the official news agency Xinhua said on Saturday, citing regional authorities, the latest violence to jolt an area with a large Muslim population. The Global Times, owned by Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily, said two explosions had occurred in a beauty salon and a grocery market in Xinhe on Friday evening. "China has refused to disclose the real reason for the protests by the Uighurs," Raxit said in an emailed statement. Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian soldiers killed in Sinai as protest toll rises to 49 Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 04:48 AM PST  By Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Gunmen killed three Egyptian soldiers in an attack on a bus in the Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, the military said, prompting a warning from the army that it would eliminate the Muslim Brotherhood, which it blames for much of Egypt's political violence. Al Qaeda-inspired Islamist militant groups based in Sinai have stepped up attacks on security forces since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Brotherhood in July following mass protests against his rule. On Saturday, the third anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, 49 people were killed in anti-government protests which were attacked by supporters of the new political order and security forces, witnesses said. Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bomber kills four in Kabul attack on Afghan army bus Sunday, Jan 26, 2014 04:01 AM PST  By Mirwais Harooni KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber attacked an Afghan army bus in Kabul on Sunday, killing four people and wounding up to 22, police said, the latest incident in a worrying surge of violence in the Afghan capital over the past 10 days. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, the worst since a devastating assault on a popular restaurant on January 17 killed 21 foreigners and Afghans. Among the victims of Sunday's attack was local radio journalist Shahid Naimi, according to police, who happened to be near the bus when the bomber blew himself up. Naimi was the second Afghan journalist to die in the past week, after the mutilated body of Noor Ahmad Noori was discovered in southern Helmand province on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
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