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| Japan revises teaching manuals, says islands its territory Monday, Jan 27, 2014 10:37 PM PST  By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan said on Tuesday it was revising teaching manuals to make clear that two sets of remote islands at the center of disputes with China and South Korea are integral parts of its territory, prompting protests from an angry Seoul. Japan's ties with Seoul and Beijing are increasingly strained over a host of issues, including the territorial rows and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit late last year to the Yasukuni Shrine, where convicted war criminals are honored along with millions of war dead. The conservative Abe has said he wants to revise Japanese history to have a less apologetic tone, a sensitive topic for Asian neighbors such as South Korea and China, where memories linger of Japanese aggression before and during World War Two. Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura said the ministry was revising the manuals to teach "properly" about Japanese history and that it would make diplomatic efforts to explain the move to Japan's neighbors. Full Story | Top |
| Taiwan, China to hold historic talks, but avoid sensitive issues Monday, Jan 27, 2014 10:34 PM PST By Miaojung Lin TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's chief policymaker on China will meet his mainland counterpart in China in February in what will be the highest-level official talks between the two sides since 1949, but said on Tuesday he would not discuss "sensitive political issues". The February 11 to 14 talks between Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Minister Wang Yu-chi and China's Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, who heads the Taiwan Affairs Office, will mark a big step towards expanding cross-strait dialogue beyond economic and trade issues. China's ruling Communist Party considers Taiwan a renegade province and has never ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its wing after taking control of the mainland in 1949. Full Story | Top |
| Thai protesters surround cabinet meeting venue Monday, Jan 27, 2014 09:21 PM PST  Around 500 anti-government protesters on Tuesday gathered outside the Army Club compound in the Thai capital, where Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra held a weekly cabinet meeting, as the two sides traded threats in a lengthy political crisis. The government has issued an ultimatum to protest leaders that they face arrest by Thursday if they do not give up areas they have taken over in Bangkok as protests drag into their third month. "The people want to talk to the prime minister because she says she is the people's prime minister ... but we want the premier to listen to us ... to our side of the story," a protest leader, Puttipong Punnakun, said. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has said his supporters would shut down the government body overseeing the emergency decree within 24 hours. Full Story | Top |
| Road access to Alaskan port of Valdez cut off by avalanches Monday, Jan 27, 2014 08:27 PM PST  By Steve Quinn JUNEAU, Alaska (Reuters) - Road traffic to Valdez, Alaska, was cut off from the rest of the state after a series of avalanches over the weekend blocked the only road into the coastal community, officials said on Monday. The highway to the town of about 4,000 was blocked after an avalanche in the Keystone Canyon on Friday, followed by another on Saturday, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Utilities spokesman Jeremy Woodrow said. "There is limited space for everything, but once water recedes, we'll be working on both ends, north and south." Valdez, one of Alaska's main seaports, lies in a remote area of the Chugach Mountains. Full Story | Top |
| Republicans, Democrats unite in bid to save California beach bonfires Monday, Jan 27, 2014 08:26 PM PST By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - It may be January, but Southern California beach-goers could be forgiven for breaking out the marshmallows early, as lawmakers moved to protect a classic rite of summer - the seaside bonfire. Under a new anti-pollution measure adopted last year by regulators in charge of air quality for Los Angeles and Orange Counties, fire rings on beaches near houses or in places where air quality was low would have to be removed. The measure prompted outrage from across the political spectrum in the coastal state, with Republicans railing that unelected bureaucrats were destroying the California way of life. Freshman Republican assemblyman Travis Allen, a surfer whose district south of Los Angeles includes several beach communities, took on the issue as one of his first efforts. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Yanukovich, opposition agree to scrap some anti-protest laws Monday, Jan 27, 2014 06:41 PM PST  By Richard Balmforth and Natalia Zinets KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich agreed in talks with opposition leaders to the repeal of some anti-protest laws and to discuss the fate of the current government at a crunch session of parliament on Tuesday, called to end two months of unrest against his rule. But former Economy Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, now a leader of the opposition, refused his offer of the prime minister's job, setting the scene for a tough political battle in parliament over opposition demands for concessions, including an amnesty for detained protesters. There was no mention of any declaration of a state of emergency - something that Yanukovich's Cabinet ministers threatened to call for on Monday to re-establish control over the security situation in the country, where protesters are seizing public buildings. Talk of a state of emergency being declared in the former Soviet republic of 46 million made the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, hastily move up a visit to Kiev on Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. urges Ukraine president not to declare state of emergency Monday, Jan 27, 2014 06:41 PM PST U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich on Monday to urge the government not to declare a state of emergency and work with the opposition to bring a peaceful end to unrest. "Underscoring that no time should be lost, the vice president urged President Yanukovich to pull back riot police and work with the opposition on immediate measures to de-escalate tensions between protesters and the government." (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton; Full Story | Top |
| Mexico says catches senior Knights Templar drug gang boss Monday, Jan 27, 2014 06:28 PM PST  By Lizbeth Diaz MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico said on Monday it had captured a leader of the Knights Templar, a violent drug cartel that has created a major security problem for President Enrique Pena Nieto. The attorney general's office said security forces arrested Dionisio Loya Plancarte, known as "El Tio" ('The Uncle'), a top member of the Knights Templar, which has clashed with vigilante groups in the western state of Michoacan this year. The Knights emerged from a split in another cartel in Michoacan known as La Familia and have controlled large swaths of the restive mountainous state in recent years, extorting farmers and local businesses and diversifying away from drug trafficking to activities such as mining. Full Story | Top |
| Brutal cold shuts schools, delays travel in U.S. Midwest Monday, Jan 27, 2014 06:21 PM PST  By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - Bitter cold and high winds from the arctic pushed wind chills to dangerous levels across the U.S. upper Midwest on Monday, forcing officials to close schools and slowing public transit and river traffic. A winter storm system is forecast to move through the U.S. South on Tuesday, bringing snow, freezing rain and high winds as bitter cold temperatures continue in the Midwest, according to the National Weather Service. Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee and other parts of the upper Midwest are forecast to have a second consecutive day of subzero highs on Tuesday, while most of the Northeast will see highs in the single digits and teens on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Accuweather.com. National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Krein blamed the weather on a surge of arctic high pressure out of Canada that has spread over the upper Midwest and central plains. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's generals give Sisi green light to run for president Monday, Jan 27, 2014 03:42 PM PST  By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's top military council gave the army chief, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a green light on Monday to seek election as president, a vote he is almost sure to win with Egyptians weary of turmoil unleashed by a pro-democracy uprising in 2011. Sisi deposed elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July after mass unrest over his increasingly arbitrary and erratic rule, kindling political chaos and security crackdowns on dissent in the Arab world's most populous nation. He has since taken on almost cult-like popularity in Egypt, with many seeing him as a decisive figure able to stabilize a country that has lurched from one economically ruinous crisis to another since the 2011 overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. "(The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) is looking forward with respect and reverence to the desire of the huge masses of the great Egyptian people in the nomination of ... Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for the presidency of the republic, which it considers a mandate and an obligation," the military high command said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Iran sanctions push stalls, U.S. lawmakers mull weaker measure Monday, Jan 27, 2014 03:19 PM PST By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An attempt to impose new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program has stalled in the U.S. Congress and lawmakers are discussing whether to introduce a much weaker measure, congressional aides said on Monday. Members of the Senate and House of Representatives are considering a non-binding resolution that expresses concern about Iran's nuclear ambitions and calls for negotiators to set strict conditions in talks between Tehran and world powers. That would fall short of tightening sanctions on Iran, as envisioned in a bill that senators have been discussing for months. "There are discussions about a resolution." Iran has warned that it will walk away from talks on its nuclear program - raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East - if Congress passes a new sanctions bill. Full Story | Top |
| Talks on Iran nuclear deal expected in NY in February: U.S. Monday, Jan 27, 2014 03:18 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau and Justyna Pawlak UNITED NATIONS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - - The opening round of talks between Iran and six world powers on a long-term deal for Tehran to curb parts of its nuclear program in exchange for a gradual end to sanctions is expected to take place next month in New York, a U.S. official said on Monday. "It is our understanding that the first round of comprehensive negotiations will be in New York in mid-February with dates still being confirmed," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in an email. "New York - agreed to by EU High Representative (Catherine) Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister (Mohammad Javad) Zarif - has a similar support infrastructure to Geneva," Harf said. "We believe that United Nations and international support is important for work on a comprehensive agreement." A senior Western diplomat told Reuters that the six powers were looking at the early part of the week of February 16, though the talks were unlikely to begin before February 18 due to a U.S. holiday. Full Story | Top |
| Teenage polar explorer on quest to raise climate change awareness Monday, Jan 27, 2014 02:40 PM PST By Marina Lopes NEW YORK (Reuters) - Parker Liautaud, the teenage polar explorer who set the record last year as the fastest unsupported person to trek to the South Pole, said he set off on the 314-mile trip from the coast of Antarctica to draw attention to climate change. The 19-year-old California native broke the previous record held by Norwegian explorers Ottar Haldorsen and Jacob Meland by almost four days when he reached the South Pole on Christmas Eve after 18 days, four hours and 43 minutes. On the return trip Liautaud bored into the hostile terrain and took 6.5-foot-deep (2 meter) samples that he hopes will help scientists answer questions about global warming. Researchers at GNS Science, a New Zealand research institute, are analyzing the samples for changes in composition that could shed light on the pace of climate change in the region. Full Story | Top |
| Congress secretly approves U.S. weapons flow to 'moderate' Syrian rebels Monday, Jan 27, 2014 02:35 PM PST  By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Light arms supplied by the United States are flowing to "moderate" Syrian rebel factions in the south of the country and U.S. funding for months of further deliveries has been approved by Congress, according U.S. and European security officials. The weapons, most of which are moving to non-Islamist Syrian rebels via Jordan, include a variety of small arms, as well as some more powerful weapons, such as anti-tank rockets. The deliveries do not include weapons such as shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, known as MANPADs, which could shoot down military or civilian aircraft, the officials said. The weapons deliveries have been funded by the U.S. Congress, in votes behind closed doors, through the end of government fiscal year 2014, which ends on September 30, two officials said. Full Story | Top |
| Syria peace talks hit more trouble as rebel city 'starves' Monday, Jan 27, 2014 02:08 PM PST By Stephanie Nebehay and Mariam Karouny GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States on Monday demanded that Syria allow aid into the "starving" city of Homs, as talks aimed at ending three years of civil war hit more trouble over the future of President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government said women and children could leave the besieged city and that rebels should hand over the names of the men who would remain. "We firmly believe that the Syrian regime must approve the convoys to deliver badly needed humanitarian assistance into the Old City of Homs now," said spokesman Edgar Vasquez. "The situation is desperate and the people are starving." He said the people of Homs must not be forced to leave their homes and split up their families before receiving aid. Full Story | Top |
| More Syrian chemical arms toxins shipped out, inspectors say Monday, Jan 27, 2014 02:08 PM PST By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More Syrian chemical weapons materials were loaded onto ships and transferred out of Syria on Monday, a joint inspection mission run by the United Nations and the global chemical arms watchdog said. The chemical weapons components will eventually be destroyed aboard a specially equipped U.S. ship. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's decision in September to give up chemical arms helped him avoid possible U.S. air strikes on government positions in retaliation for a poison gas attack near Damascus in August that killed hundreds of people, many of them women and children. "Today, a further shipment of chemical weapons materials took place from the Syrian Arab Republic," the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Yanukovich, opposition agree to repeal some anti-protest laws Monday, Jan 27, 2014 01:56 PM PST Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and opposition leaders on Monday agreed to repeal some anti-protest laws at a special session of parliament aimed at defusing two months of unrest against Yanukovich's rule. The presidential web site quoted Justice Minister Olena Lukash, who was present at the talks, as saying Tuesday's crunch session of parliament would also discuss the issue of the government's "responsibility". But she added that former economy minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, one of the opposition leaders, had formally turned down the offer of the post of prime minister which was made by Yanukovich at the weekend. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Yanukovich meets opposition ahead of crunch parliament session Monday, Jan 27, 2014 01:56 PM PST  By Richard Balmforth KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovich held fresh talks with opposition leaders on Monday to prepare for a crunch session of parliament at which the president and his allies will be under pressure to make major concessions amid mass unrest. A tough battle lay ahead at Tuesday's session with the opposition calling for concessions including the repeal of sweeping anti-protest laws, the dismissal of the government and an amnesty for all protesters detained in two months of unrest. Ukraine's justice minister raised tensions by warning she would press for a state of emergency if protesters did not vacate a ministry building they had occupied overnight. As the opposition leaders - boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, former economy minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and nationalist Oleh Tyahnibok - met Yanukovich, the President's party set the scene for a rowdy session of parliament, saying they did not intend to yield any ground. Full Story | Top |
| Anti-graft party to field dozens of candidates in India general election Monday, Jan 27, 2014 01:36 PM PST  By Frank Jack Daniel NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The young anti-graft party that stormed to power in India's capital Delhi last month plans to field at least 73 candidates in national elections due by May to stand against politicians accused of crimes, its founder said on Monday. Following its strong performance in Delhi, interest in the year-old Aam Aadmi - Common Man - Party has surged. Until now the party had not said how many of the 540 lower house parliamentary seats it might contest in an election pitting the centre-left governing coalition against front runner opposition candidate Narendra Modi. While polls suggest the debutant party is unlikely to win more than a dozen or so seats, its success in Delhi has shaken up the national race, with Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling Congress party both aping Aam Aadmi's anti-elite, anti-corruption language. Full Story | Top |
| U.S., British spy agencies exploit 'leaky' apps for intel: report Monday, Jan 27, 2014 01:06 PM PST  U.S. and British intelligence agencies have plotted ways to gather data from Angry Birds and other smartphone apps that leak users' personal information onto global networks, the New York Times reported on Monday. It was citing previously undisclosed intelligence documents made available by fugitive American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. The Times said the U.S. National Security Agency and its British counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters, had tried to exploit increasing volumes of personal data that spill onto networks from new generations of mobile phone technology. Among these new intelligence tools were "leaky" apps on smartphones that could disclose users' locations, age, gender and other personal information. Full Story | Top |
| Sudan's president urges armed groups, parties to talk Monday, Jan 27, 2014 12:55 PM PST  Sudan's president called on armed groups and all political parties on Monday to meet and discuss ways of improving the country, but stopped short of promising a constitutional overhaul that was forecast by a senior member of his party. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has had to wrestle with a sharp drop in oil revenues, the main source of government income, and rising inflation after losing the bulk of his active oilfields following the secession of South Sudan in 2012. Rabie Abdelati, a senior member of Bashir's ruling National Congress Party earlier said Bashir would use a live television address on Monday to call for opposition groups to help redraw the constitution and join the government. Full Story | Top |
| 13 killed in Central African Republic, U.N. envoy says Muslims vulnerable Monday, Jan 27, 2014 12:42 PM PST  By Emmanuel Braun BANGUI (Reuters) - At least 13 people were killed in Central African Republic on Monday as the top U.N. human rights official warned of escalating reprisals against Muslims and urged foreign governments to do more to stop the country being torn apart. Almost one million people, or a quarter of the population, have been displaced by fighting since the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel group seized power in March in the majority Christian country. In recent days, Seleka fighters have steadily abandoned the riverside capital Bangui, leaving Muslim civilians at the mercy of Christian militia, known as 'anti-balaka' or 'anti-machete' in the local Sango language. Looting and mob violence mainly targeting predominantly Muslim neighborhoods of Bangui have intensified despite the presence of a 1,600-strong French intervention force and thousands of African peacekeepers. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan urges U.S. to tread carefully in Afghan withdrawal Monday, Jan 27, 2014 12:34 PM PST  By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Pakistani official urged the United States on Monday to ensure the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan does not leave a vacuum that threatens regional stability and Pakistan's own security. "Although the war in Afghanistan may be winding down, just as in the past, Pakistan will have to face the brunt of any instability that may engulf Afghanistan after 2014," said Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan's national security and foreign affairs adviser. Aziz and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivered prepared remarks before opening discussions in Washington that are part of a 'strategic dialogue,' which have sought to move bilateral relations beyond crisis-driven security concerns to cooperation on trade, energy and education. Full Story | Top |
| Hague border verdict set to strengthen Chile, Peru ties Monday, Jan 27, 2014 11:43 AM PST  By Thomas Escritt and Rosalba O'Brien THE HAGUE/SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The maritime border between Chile and Peru was reset by an international court on Monday, in a compromise decision that politicians hope will end one of Latin America's last remaining border disputes. The Hague-based International Court of Justice awarded more than half of a disputed 38,000-square-kilometer patch of ocean to Peru, but Chile retained the bulk of the valuable coastal fishing grounds within that area. The maritime border between the neighboring countries will be set by a straight line extending 80 nautical miles west from the point where their land borders meet and then heading southwest. Full Story | Top |
| Beatles, mass wedding attract big TV audience to Grammys Monday, Jan 27, 2014 11:13 AM PST  Beatles, robots and a mass wedding drew 28.5 million viewers to the Grammy awards television broadcast on Sunday night, the show's second-largest audience in two decades, CBS Corp's broadcast network CBS said on Monday. French electronic-music duo Daft Punk, known for their robot-inspired outfits, took home four awards including album and record of the year, and New Zealand's 17-year-old newcomer Lorde won two, including song of the year. Viewership was up from last year's Grammys, when 28.1 million viewers tuned into the show, and is the second-largest audience for the Grammy telecast since 1993. The 2012 show attracted 39.9 million viewers, the second-largest Grammy TV audience ever, thanks largely to British singer Adele's six wins and performance comeback after throat surgery and the drowning death of singer Whitney Houston in a bathtub in a Beverly Hills hotel the night before show. Full Story | Top |
| Vigilantes vs. narcos: a security threat in Mexico badlands Monday, Jan 27, 2014 10:59 AM PST  By Simon Gardner BUENAVISTA, Mexico (Reuters) - Clutching shotguns, rifles and battered submachine guns, dozens of vigilantes prepare to head out on patrol in this rugged corner of restive western Mexico, where they are at war with a drug cartel. Moments later, an armored convoy of federal police passes by. In violence-racked Michoacan, an impoverished agricultural state about 1-1/2 times the size of Switzerland, vigilantes are battling a cartel called the Caballeros Templarios, or Knights Templar, for control of swathes of the failing state. After letting the conflict brew, the government this month vowed to assert control but its messages have been contradictory. Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria security service arrests deputy opposition leader Monday, Jan 27, 2014 10:08 AM PST  By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's State Security Service (SSS) arrested the deputy head of the main opposition coalition on Monday over comments he is reported to have made warning of electoral violence in presidential polls scheduled for February 2015. Nasir el-Rufai was quoted in the daily ThisDay as saying that the election was "likely to be violent and many people are going to die," as has happened in previous elections in Africa's most populous country and top oil producer. We are interrogating him over comments he made published by a newspaper on Thursday," SSS spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar said by telephone. The elections are expected to be the most closely fought since the end of military rule in 1999 and Nigeria is bracing for politically orchestrated violence. Full Story | Top |
| NATO faces tough decisions on staying in Afghanistan Monday, Jan 27, 2014 09:34 AM PST  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO faces tough decisions next month about whether to pull all its troops out of Afghanistan after this year if President Hamid Karzai does not sign accords allowing them to stay, the alliance's leader said on Monday. Anders Fogh Rasmussen repeated his warning that the 28-nation alliance would be forced to pull all its troops out of Afghanistan by year-end if it does not have a legal framework in place to keep some there. The Afghan government and the United States have agreed the legal terms for U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan after the end of 2014, when NATO-led forces are due to end combat operations, leaving behind a much smaller training and advisory mission. If we are not invited, if we don't have any legal framework, then we can't stay in Afghanistan after 2014, it is as simple as that, and it takes some time to close down our bases in Afghanistan," an unusually emotional Rasmussen told a news conference. Full Story | Top |
| South Africa platinum talks remain deadlocked Monday, Jan 27, 2014 09:31 AM PST  By Zandi Shabalala PRETORIA (Reuters) - Government-brokered talks between South Africa's AMCU union and the world's top three platinum producers ended on Monday with no breakthrough in efforts to end a strike that has hit half of global output of the precious metal. "They want to sleep on our demands, we are confident that progress will happen tomorrow," Jimmy Gama, the main negotiator for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction (AMCU), told reporters after the talks ended at a Pretoria hotel. AMCU members downed tools on Thursday at American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin, bringing operations around the gritty mining town of Rustenburg to a halt and dealing a fresh blow to investor confidence in Africa's largest economy. Dozens of AMCU activists and shop stewards, clad in their trade-mark green shirts, danced after the talks ended and chanted that the companies were "running back to (President Jacob) Zuma, they have lost the war." The strikes are an unwelcome distraction for Zuma and his ruling African National Congress (ANC) ahead of general elections expected in three months. Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen kill at least 62 in Nigeria, including in church Monday, Jan 27, 2014 09:20 AM PST By Imma Ande YOLA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Suspected insurgents armed with guns and explosives killed at least 62 people in northeast Nigeria, including at a church service, in a region where Islamist sect Boko Haram is resisting a military crackdown, witnesses said on Monday. They killed 22 people by setting off bombs and firing into the congregation in the Catholic church in Waga Chakawa village in Adamawa state on Sunday, before burning houses and taking residents hostage during a four-hour siege, witnesses said. President Goodluck Jonathan is struggling to contain Boko Haram in remote rural regions in the country's northeast corner, where the sect launched an uprising in 2009. Boko Haram, which wants to impose sharia law on a country split roughly equally between Christians and Muslims, has killed thousands over the past four and a half years and is considered the biggest security risk in Africa's top oil exporter and second largest economy after South Africa. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council urges end to ransom payments to extremists Monday, Jan 27, 2014 08:47 AM PST The U.N. Security Council urges countries on Monday to stop the payment of kidnap ransoms to extremist groups like al Qaeda, which have earned hundreds of millions of dollars from such crimes. "We estimate that in the last three and a half years, al Qaeda-affiliated and other Islamist extremist groups have collected at least $105 million," British U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters. "We need to break that cycle." The United States has estimated militant groups have received $120 million over the past decade, including ransoms paid to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The United States and Britain do not pay ransoms, but some European governments do. Full Story | Top |
| Rwanda sending 'chilling message' to dissenters: U.N. rapporteur Monday, Jan 27, 2014 08:05 AM PST  By Jenny Clover KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda's track record of prosecuting politicians who criticize President Paul Kagame's government sends a chilling a message to opposition figures and rights campaigners, a U.N. Special Rapporteur said on Monday. Kagame, a rebel fighter-turned-statesman, has won plaudits for Rwanda's economic transformation since the 1994 genocide and for deploying peacekeepers to Africa's conflicts. But his opponents and rights groups accuse him of trampling political and media freedoms, something the government denies. Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai said that politicians who rejected what he called Kagame's 'consensus politics' ran into legal trouble, often facing charges of downplaying the genocide and sectarianism. Full Story | Top |
| As talks struggle, Israel and Palestinians assess price of failure Monday, Jan 27, 2014 08:00 AM PST  By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Even as Palestinians and Israelis strive for an elusive peace deal to end their generations-old conflict, the two sides are preparing for failure. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has cautioned that a breakdown in the talks he has tirelessly promoted for the past six months might lead to a third Palestinian uprising. The Palestinians say they are ready to shift their battle for an independent state on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war to the International Criminal Court if the negotiations prove fruitless. Israel, by contrast, is pinning its hopes on maintaining the status quo - using exhaustive security measures to manage what has become a low-grade, occasional conflict while continuing to expand settlements in the West Bank - but might activate unilateral moves of its own if dialogue peters out. Full Story | Top |
| India's Gandhi accuses Modi of 'abetting' riots Monday, Jan 27, 2014 07:52 AM PST  India's Rahul Gandhi attacked the chief opponent of his embattled Congress party on Monday by accusing his regional government of 'abetting' religious riots in 2002. Indians are due to vote by May in what many see as a direct contest between Gandhi and Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi. "The government in Gujarat was actually abetting and pushing the riots further," Gandhi told Times Now television in a rare interview, adding that Modi was responsible because he was chief minister of Gujarat at the time. "The government in Gujarat was allowing the riots to happen," Gandhi said. Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic's Muslims under attack: U.N. rights envoy Monday, Jan 27, 2014 07:37 AM PST  By Emmanuel Braun BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's Muslim minority faces a rising wave of reprisal attacks and foreign governments must do more to prevent the country being torn apart, the top U.N. human rights official said on Monday. Almost one million people, or a quarter of the population, have been displaced by fighting since the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel movement seized power in the majority Christian country last March, unleashing a wave of killing and looting. Seleka leaders are now abandoning the capital Bangui with their remaining fighters, raising the risk of reprisal killings targeting Muslim civilians. "Muslim civilians are now extremely vulnerable. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Wages in South Africa's platinum sector Monday, Jan 27, 2014 07:22 AM PST (Reuters) - South Africa's Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has launched strikes in a dispute over wages with the world's top three platinum producers. The following are some facts and figures about AMCU's demands, the offers from Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin, and wages in the sector. AMCU'S DEMANDS Under the populist battle cry of a "living wage", AMCU is demanding minimum entry-level pay of 12,500 rand ($1,100) a month from the three platinum producers - a more than doubling of current levels. The companies, which last week said AMCU's demands were "unaffordable and unrealistic", have made offers of between 7.5 and 8.5 percent, well above current inflation of 5.4 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Letta says EU able to deal with Argentina crisis Monday, Jan 27, 2014 07:16 AM PST The European Union and the common euro currency are stronger than they were a year ago and much better positioned to resist any shocks stemming from a currency crisis in Argentina, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said on Monday. "The troubles in Argentina today find a European Union that is much more solid, and a euro that is much more solid, and a better ability to deal with this kind of concern," Letta told a press conference in Rome. Full Story | Top |
| Italy, Spain say want rapid end to Panama Canal dispute Monday, Jan 27, 2014 07:14 AM PST  Italy and Spain are both committed to finding a rapid solution to a dispute which is threatening to halt work on widening the Panama canal, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy said on Monday. "We think it is absolutely fundamental that we manage to solve this controversy, this is a primary interest for Italy and Spain," Letta said at a joint news conference with Rajoy in Rome. A consortium of construction companies, led by Spain's Sacyr, has threatened to halt work on expanding the Panama Canal unless a dispute over cost overruns is resolved. Full Story | Top |
| If he can hang on, Libyan premier may win oil standoff Monday, Jan 27, 2014 07:07 AM PST  By Patrick Markey and Ghaith Shennib TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Almost every week, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan either tries to cajole the fighters choking off Libya's crude exports or threatens to break their blockade by force. Their leader, Ibrahim al-Jathran, dug in at ports his men seized in August, says he will sell Libya's oil himself and carve out a semi-state unless the eastern region gets a fairer share of the revenues. But lawmakers, oil sources and diplomats say Zeidan and Jathran are not on the brink of war, and that if the prime minister can survive a political crisis in the capital he may win the upper hand in the war of attrition over oil exports. "He can continue the blockade, inflicting damage on the government's credibility and finances, which gives him a high profile. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine borrows $2 billion from Moscow, signals bailout on track Monday, Jan 27, 2014 06:59 AM PST  By Natalia Zinets KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine is borrowing another $2 billion from Russia on the same terms as a $3 billion Eurobond sold in December, in a sign that Moscow is pushing on with a $15 billion bailout despite concern about violence at anti-government protests in Kiev. In a geopolitical battle with the European Union after Ukraine spurned a trade pact with the 28-state bloc, Russia agreed on credits and cheaper gas for Kiev in December to help its fellow former Soviet republic meet huge debt payments. The deal brought a breathing space for the government but the protests have since spiraled into violent unrest in the capital and other cities, forcing President Viktor Yanukovich into talks with opponents who mistrust Moscow. Full Story | Top |
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