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| Coral or coal decision looms for Australia's Great Barrier Reef Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 11:30 PM PST By Sonali Paul MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia's Great Barrier Reef watchdog is to decide by Friday whether to allow millions of cubic meters of dredged mud to be dumped near the fragile reef to create the world's biggest coal port and possibly unlock $28 billion in coal projects. A dumping permit would allow a major expansion of the port of Abbot Point for two Indian firms and Australian billionaire miner Gina Rinehart, who together have $16 billion worth of coal projects in the untapped, inland Galilee Basin. The Galilee Basin could double Australia's thermal coal exports and see it overtake Indonesia as the world's top coal exporter, further fuelling China's power plants and steel mills that have underpinned Australia's decade-long mining boom. The plan has sparked protests from environmentalists and scientists who fear the sensitive marine park will be damaged by the dumping and an expanded port, would nearly double shipping traffic through the reef, increasing the risk of accidents. Full Story | Top |
| Saudi Arabia to give Egypt up to $4 billion more aid: report Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 11:17 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is expected to give Egypt up to $4 billion in additional aid in the form of central bank deposits and petroleum products, state-run Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram reported on Thursday. Citing an unnamed ministerial source, the newspaper said the package would be worked out during a visit next week to the kingdom by Egypt's interim prime minister Hazem el-Beblawi. Gulf Arab states have showered Egypt with billions of dollars since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's Communist Party expels ex-Nanjing mayor for bribes Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 11:04 PM PST China's ruling Communist Party has expelled a former city mayor for bribery and abuse of power, one of the most senior government officials to fall victim to President Xi Jinping's campaign against graft. Ji Jianye was mayor of Nanjing where he "took advantage of his position to seek benefits for others (and) received a huge amount of money and gifts either by himself or through family members", the party's corruption watchdog said on Thursday. The findings against Ji would be handed to judicial authorities to handle, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on its website (www.ccdi.gov.cn). Ji was removed as Nanjing mayor on October 19, two days after the government announced he was under investigation for suspected "disciplinary violations" - a term often used for corruption - and breaking the law. Full Story | Top |
| Russia to await new Ukraine government before fully implementing rescue: Putin Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 10:55 PM PST  By Steve Gutterman and Richard Balmforth MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin raised the pressure on Ukraine on Wednesday, saying Russia would wait until it forms a new government before fully implementing a $15 billion bailout deal that Kiev urgently needs. Putin repeated a promise to honor the lifeline agreement with Ukraine in full, but left open the timing of the next aid installment as Kiev struggles to calm more than two months of turmoil since President Victor Yanukovich walked away from a treaty with the European Union. A day after Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resigned on Tuesday, hoping to appease the opposition and street protesters, Russia tightened border checks on imports from Ukraine in what looked like a reminder to Yanukovich not to install a government that tilts policy back towards the West. Full Story | Top |
| Deadly ice storm turns Atlanta into parking lot, strands thousands Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 10:08 PM PST  By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - A rare ice storm turned Atlanta into a slippery mess on Wednesday, stranding thousands for hours on frozen roadways and raising questions about how city leaders prepared for and handled the cold snap that slammed the U.S. South. Overnight temperatures in the Atlanta region are expected to remain well below freezing, with temperatures in the U.S. Southeast dropping into the teens Fahrenheit (minus 10 to minus 7 Celsius) on Thursday. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed came under fire for his response to a storm that trapped hundreds of children in schools overnight, some without provisions, and created traffic jams stretching for miles on roads coated with 2 inches of snow. "Folks are angry with the mayor of Atlanta, with the governor," said Flavia DiCesare, 54, who spent the night in her office at Cox Enterprises in Atlanta, about 30 miles from home. Full Story | Top |
| Thai army to deploy more troops in capital ahead of vote Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:06 PM PST  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's army will increase the number of troops in the capital ahead of Sunday's election, which anti-government protesters say they will disrupt as part of their campaign to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The government's decision to press ahead with the February 2 election has inflamed tensions in the capital, Bangkok, where the protesters have blockaded main intersections and forced many ministries to close their doors this month. "In addition to the 5,000 soldiers we have already deployed in and around Bangkok to help monitor security, we will be increasing troops around protest sites as there are people trying to instigate violence," army spokesman Winthai Suvaree told Reuters. Around 10,000 police would be responsible for security in Bangkok on polling day and the soldiers would be on standby, he added. Full Story | Top |
| Arrest of billionaire highlights political divisions in Iran Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:05 PM PST By Babak Dehghanpisheh BEIRUT (Reuters) - While international sanctions have made life a struggle for many Iranians, they were a big break for businessman Babak Zanjani, who made a fortune helping the government evade the restrictions on oil sales. A $40,000 watch on his wrist and a Tehran football club for a plaything, Zanjani shuttled to meetings on private jets, arranging billions of dollars of oil deals through a network of companies that stretched from Turkey to Malaysia, Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates, he said last autumn. Under the conservative presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the 39-year-old Zanjani was good enough at his work to amass a fortune of $10 billion - along with debts of a similar scale, he told Aseman - until he was arrested late last month. He is being held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, accused of owing the government, under moderate new President Hassan Rouhani since August, more than $2.7 billion for oil sold on behalf of the oil ministry. Full Story | Top |
| Panama's first lady tapped as vice presidential candidate Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 08:01 PM PST Panama's ruling party nominated Marta Linares, the wife of President Ricardo Martinelli, as its vice presidential candidate for the May election, the party's presidential candidate announced on his Twitter page on Wednesday. "Marta will be our vice president," said Jose Domingo Arias, the standard-bearer for the Democratic Change party, in a post on the social media website following Linares' formal approval by party members. Full Story | Top |
| Idaho calls off hired hunter to kill wolves in wilderness Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 06:34 PM PST By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Idaho has called off a professional hunter hired to kill wolves in a federally protected wilderness area because he had succeeded in reducing the population enough to protect the elk prized by hunters. The push by state wildlife managers to kill wolves in the wilderness renewed a battle over an animal that was nearly extinct in the continental United States when it was declared an endangered species in 1974. As the population rebounded, wolves in the Northern Rockies, including Idaho, lost federal protection and can now be hunted and trapped. The wolves killed were part of two packs in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in the mountains of central Idaho, where wolves were imported from Canada in the mid-1990s to re-establish the species in the Northern Rockies. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Syria has shipped out less than 5 percent of chemical weapons Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 06:25 PM PST  By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Syria has given up less than 5 percent of its chemical weapons arsenal and will miss next week's deadline to send all toxic agents abroad for destruction, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The deliveries, in two shipments this month to the northern Syrian port of Latakia, totalled 4.1 percent of the roughly 1,300 tonnes of toxic agents reported by Damascus to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Damascus needs to show it is still serious about relinquishing its chemical weapons, the sources told Reuters. The issue is to be discussed at a meeting of the OPCW's executive council on Thursday in The Hague, a senior U.S. State Department official told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: U.S. readies financial sanctions against Ukraine: congressional aides Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 05:46 PM PST  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is preparing financial sanctions that could be imposed on Ukrainian officials and protest leaders if violence escalates in the political crisis gripping Ukraine, congressional aides said on Wednesday. Congressional aides, who asked not to be identified by name because of the sensitive subject, said they had discussed the sanction preparations with administration officials. They said final details of the package have not been worked out, but it could be put in place quickly against government officials - or leaders of the protest movement - in case of widespread violence. Six people have been killed in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities in protests that erupted more than two months ago after President Viktor Yanukovich walked away from a treaty with the European Union under pressure from Russia. Full Story | Top |
| Amanda Knox faces verdict in Italy in retrial on Kercher murder Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 03:28 PM PST  By Naomi O'Leary FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Amanda Knox, the American student who became tabloid fodder, will not be in court on Thursday to hear Italian judges give their verdict in her retrial for the murder of Briton Meredith Kercher when the two were roommates studying abroad in 2007. Knox, who is living in Seattle, is standing trial alongside her Italian former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. Six years of trials and investigations have so far failed to clear up mysteries surrounding the murder of Kercher, 21, who was found stabbed to death in her bedroom in the picturesque town of Perugia, where she shared a student flat with Knox. Knox, 26, and Sollecito, 29, were convicted of the murder in 2009 and spent almost four years in jail, but the verdicts were overturned on appeal and Knox immediately returned home to the United States upon her release in 2011, where she has remained. Full Story | Top |
| European bat population bounces back from the brink: study Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 03:01 PM PST Europe's bat population is vulnerable, but conservation policies have boosted it by more than 40 percent after years of decline, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said on Thursday. European bat populations shrank, particularly during the second half of the 20th century, because of intensive agriculture, disappearing habitats and toxic chemicals used in treating roof timbers where they roost. The new report found conservation policies had helped to reverse the decline, but concluded bats should "still be considered vulnerable". They are also extremely sensitive to environmental change, which means they serve as an early indicator of climate change. Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Jordan's King Abdullah to meet February 14 in California Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:38 PM PST U.S. President Barack Obama and Jordan's King Abdullah will discuss Syria and the Middle East at a February 14 summit to be held at a California retreat, the White House said on Wednesday. Obama met China's President Xi Jinping at the same location last June, the Sunnylands retreat in Rancho Mirage, California. Full Story | Top |
| Brahimi says no substantive progress on Syria but hopeful Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:36 PM PST  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Mariam Karouny GENEVA (Reuters) - International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday that he does not expect to achieve anything substantive in the first round of Syria talks ending on Friday, but hoped for a more productive second round starting about a week later. "We talked about the TGB (Transitional Governing Body), but of course it is a very, very preliminary discussion and more generally of what each side expects," Brahimi told reporters. Opposition and government sides said they agreed to use the "Geneva communiqué", a document endorsed by world powers at a conference in June 2012, and which sets out the stages needed to end the fighting and agree on a political transition. "We have agreed that Geneva 1 is the basis of the talks," opposition spokesman Louay al-Safi told reporters. Full Story | Top |
| South Korea urges North to hasten reunions but vows to continue drills Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:09 PM PST  South Korea urged the North on Wednesday to speed efforts for reunions of families separated since the war that divided the neighbors, but vowed to continue joint military drills with the United States, despite protests from Pyongyang. Uncertainty remained whether the North would keep its pledge to hold the reunions ahead of the start of the drills, but the South said it would not use the military exercises as a means to secure the family event. The North proposed the family reunions last week in a move welcomed by both China, its sole major ally, and the United States. But the North has yet to respond to a call by the South for the event to be held over six days in February and for a meeting to hammer out location and logistics. Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Jordan's King Abdullah to meet Feb 14 in California Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 01:56 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Jordan's King Abdullah will discuss Syria and the Middle East at a February 14 summit at a retreat in California, the White House said on Wednesday. Obama had met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the same location last June, the Sunnylands retreat in Rancho Mirage, California. Jordan is feeling the strains from the civil war in neighboring Syria, and is providing refuge to thousands of Syrians. (Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Chris Reese) Full Story | Top |
| Yanukovich's allies try to tempt Ukraine protesters with amnesty Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 01:37 PM PST Lawmakers loyal to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich on Wednesday offered an amnesty to people detained in the wave of anti-government protests - but only on condition that activists vacate occupied buildings in Kiev and other parts of Ukraine. The opposition refused to cast their votes on an amnesty law, which Yanukovich loyalists hope will help de-escalate two months of street unrest. The text of the law was not available but its author said the offer of an amnesty for those detained by police was conditional on the City Hall in Kiev being cleared of protesters as well as regional administration buildings in several cities across Ukraine. Though it did not appear to call for barricades or tents to be removed from the main protest zone in Kiev, the law, at first glance, did not seem to be likely to be heeded by protesters. Full Story | Top |
| Veteran negotiator pursues Syria 'mission impossible' Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 01:35 PM PST By Khaled Yacoub Oweis GENEVA (Reuters) - The job was too much for Kofi Annan. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning former U.N. secretary general - hardly known as a quitter - threw in the towel in August 2012, declaring that serving as international mediator for Syria was impossible as long as global powers were hopelessly divided. But since taking on the role, Lakhdar Brahimi, an 80-year-old Algerian diplomat with decades of experience in some of the world's most intractable conflicts, has steadfastly refused to give up on what is expected to be his final mission: seeking an end to Syria's civil war. It took Brahimi a year and a half even to get the warring parties into the same room for this week's peace talks in Geneva. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt to put Al Jazeera journalists on trial - prosecutor Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 01:25 PM PST By Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will put an Australian, two Britons and a Dutchwoman on trial for aiding 16 Egyptians belonging to a "terrorist organisation", the public prosecutor said on Wednesday, describing the four as Al Jazeera correspondents. Three of the Qatar-based television network's journalists - Peter Greste, an Australian; The British Embassy said it was aware of the report and was seeking more information. The 16 Egyptians are to face trial for belonging to a "terrorist organisation", an apparent reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been protesting against the government since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July. Full Story | Top |
| Baghdad bombs and shooting kill at least 19 Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 01:22 PM PST Car bombs in mainly Shi'ite districts of the Iraqi capital and a shooting killed at least 19 people on Wednesday, police said, driving the death toll so far this month to nearly 1,000, according to Iraq Body Count. No group claimed responsibility for the blasts, but members of the country's Shi'ite majority are often targeted by Sunni Islamist insurgents, some linked with al Qaeda, who have regained ground in Iraq over the past year. The al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has exploited resentment among minority Sunnis against the Shi'ite-led government for policies perceived as unfairly penalizing their once-dominant community. On January 1, militants overran two cities in the Sunni heartland province of Anbar, which shares a border with Syria, where ISIL is also active. Full Story | Top |
| Canada's Trudeau boots unelected senators from Liberal caucus Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 01:12 PM PST  By Randall Palmer OTTAWA (Reuters) - Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, fighting to unseat Canada's Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the 2015 election, expelled all his party's members in the scandal-plagued Senate from the Liberal caucus on Wednesday. The reputation of Canada's Senate, the unelected upper chamber of its Parliament, is in tatters after controversial expense claims by four senators - three Conservative appointees and one Liberal appointee. Opponents of Trudeau, son of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, said his motive was to insulate his party from the seething expense scandal. But the Liberal leader said he was moving to fix what he called a broken Senate. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. spy chiefs say number of foreign militants in Syria rises Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 12:52 PM PST By Patricia Zengerle and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 7,000 foreign militants are fighting for the rebels in Syria's civil war and some are being trained to return home and conduct attacks, U.S. spy chiefs told lawmakers on Wednesday. The estimate, given at a Senate intelligence hearing, was much higher than earlier figures of 3,000 to 4,000 foreign fighters in Syria, and came after news emerged this week that Congress had secretly approved more funding to send weapons to "moderate" rebels. "We estimate, at this point, an excess of 7,000 foreign fighters have been attracted from some 50 countries, many of them in Europe and the Mideast," James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, told the hearing. "And this is of great concern not only to us, but to those countries," he said at the Senate Intelligence Committee's annual hearing on global security threats. Full Story | Top |
| Israeli ruling coalition wobbles as U.S. peace proposal looms Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 11:51 AM PST  By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A pending U.S. framework proposal to propel stumbling Israeli-Palestinian peace talks forward chipped away on Wednesday at a troubled alliance between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an ultranationalist ally in his governing coalition. Adding to the fray was a warning by centrist Finance Minister Yair Lapid that any failure of U.S.-brokered peace talks could cause a "dramatic setback" in Israel's economy, citing boycott threats against Israel already heard in the West. No date has been announced for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to unveil his blueprint for an Israeli-Palestinian deal, but new skirmishing between Netanyahu and far-right partner Naftali Bennett suggested crunch time was near. Bennett's Jewish Home party advocates annexation of some of the West Bank - occupied territory that Palestinians seek for a state - and it has threatened to end its partnership with Netanyahu if, he says, any handover of land of biblical significance to Jews were in the offing. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan frees seven detainees accused of coup plot Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 11:30 AM PST  By James Macharia and Richard Lough NAIROBI (Reuters) - South Sudan freed seven senior political figures on Wednesday who had been arrested on suspicion of plotting a coup, partially meeting a rebel demand at peace talks focused on ending weeks of fighting. President Salva Kiir accused his former vice president Riek Machar of starting fighting between rival groups of soldiers in the capital Juba in mid December in a bid to seize power - a charge denied my Machar. Authorities detained the 11 men, including former justice minister John Luk Jok, on suspicion of being involved, as clashes between government troops and now rebel fighters loyal to Machar quickly spread, killing thousands. South Sudan's current Justice Minister Paulino Wanawilla Unago had prepared the ground for the release on Tuesday, saying no evidence had been found against the seven. Full Story | Top |
| Italy vote reform moves to parliament as parties agree changes Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 11:25 AM PST  By Roberto Landucci ROME (Reuters) - Italy's main political parties agreed adjustments to center-left leader Matteo Renzi's electoral reform proposals that should clear the way for the closely watched package to come before parliament on Thursday. The measures, designed to prevent the kind of messy stalemate left by last year's deadlocked elections, are seen as vital to allowing the creation of stable governments capable of tackling deep reforms to Italy's stagnant economy. Renzi, who is not in government but who has assumed an ever greater role as head of the largest party in Prime Minister Enrico Letta's ruling coalition, says election reform would be the prelude to broader economic reforms. The changes agreed by Renzi's Democratic Party (PD) and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia would make it slightly easier for smaller parties to enter parliament by lowering the minimum entry threshold from 5 percent to 4.5 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Hoping to deter Hezbollah, Israel threatens Lebanese civilians Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 10:48 AM PST  By Dan Williams HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - Israel accused Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas on Wednesday of putting "thousands" of bases in residential buildings and said it would destroy these in a future conflict, even at the cost of civilian lives. The unusually explicit threat by air force chief Major-General Amir Eshel appeared to be part of an effort by Israeli officials to prepare world opinion for high civilian casualties in any new confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel says Iran and Syria have supplied improved missiles to Hezbollah, which fought the technologically superior Israeli military to a standstill in a 2006 war in Lebanon. Full Story | Top |
| Czech president appoints centre-left cabinet, ending power vacuum Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 10:25 AM PST  By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - President Milos Zeman appointed a new center-left cabinet on Wednesday, ending a seven-month power vacuum that has hampered policy decisions that the Czech Republic needs to boost recovery from its longest recession. The coalition, led by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, plans to ease some fiscal restrictions imposed by the former center-right cabinet, bring the country closer to the euro zone and clampdown on corruption - the election's main theme. Social Democrat leader Sobotka, 42, wants to return the central European country to the EU mainstream in contrast to the eurosceptic course of previous cabinets. "Hopes are rising after a long time that the Czech Republic will stop playing the role of troublemaker in the European Union," Jakub Janda from the European Values think-tank wrote in a commentary. Full Story | Top |
| Turkish military strikes al Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria: media Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 10:18 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The Turkish armed forces attacked a convoy of al Qaeda-linked rebel vehicles in Syria in retaliation for cross-border fire on Tuesday, destroying three vehicles, Turkish media said on Wednesday. Turkish troops opened fire on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positions in northern Syria after a mortar shell fired from Syria landed in Turkish territory during clashes between ISIL and the Free Syrian Army, broadcaster NTV reported. It said a pick-up truck, a lorry and a bus were destroyed in the Turkish retaliation on Tuesday evening. ... Full Story | Top |
| Latin Americans pledge to respect Cuba's form of government Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:51 AM PST Latin American leaders pledged on Wednesday to respect the right of all countries in the region to choose their own political systems, a proclamation notable largely for accepting Cuba as the only one-party state in the western hemisphere. Cuba is hosting a summit of 33 countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states (CELAC) who agreed in a declaration to "fully respect the inalienable right of every state to choose its political system." They also agreed "not to intervene, directly or indirectly, in the internal affairs of any other state and to observe the principles of national sovereignty". CELAC, which excludes the United States and Canada, was the brainchild of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and created as a counterweight to the Organization of American States (OAS), which has its headquarters in Washington. CELAC's second annual summit, a two-day affair, concludes on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Canada's Trudeau boots unelected senators from Liberal group Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:50 AM PST  By Randall Palmer OTTAWA (Reuters) - Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, fighting to unseat Canada's Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the 2015 election, expelled all his party's members in the scandal-plagued Senate from the Liberal caucus on Wednesday. The reputation of Canada's Senate, the unelected upper chamber of its Parliament, is in tatters after controversial expense claims by four senators - three Conservative appointees and one Liberal appointee. Opponents of Trudeau, son of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, said his motive was to insulate his party from the seething expense scandal. But the Liberal leader said he was moving to fix what he called a broken Senate. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Ex-guerrilla faces tough-on-gangs rightist in El Salvador election Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:49 AM PST A former guerrilla commander hopes to secure the left a second term in El Salvador's presidential election on Sunday, but he faces a strong challenge from a right-wing former mayor who wants to use the army to battle powerful street gangs. SALVADOR SANCHEZ CEREN The 69-year-old vice president and education minister is running for the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), the rebel group turned political party. His candidacy was seen as risky since the FMLN lost previous elections when it ran with former guerrilla leaders. The FMLN did not win until it backed journalist Mauricio Funes in 2009. Full Story | Top |
| El Salvador vote pits ex-rebel vs gang-fighting rightist Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:48 AM PST  By Nelson Renteria SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - A former guerrilla commander hopes to keep his left-wing party in power in El Salvador's presidential election on Sunday, but he faces a strong challenge from a right-wing rival who wants to use the army to battle powerful street gangs. Polls give Vice President Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, an edge over his conservative adversary Norman Quijano, who stepped down from a second term as mayor of San Salvador to run. But with three main candidates competing, Sanchez Ceren is expected to fall short of the 50 percent support needed to win outright and so face Quijano in a run-off on March 9. Full Story | Top |
| Profile: Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babis Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:45 AM PST PRAGUE (Reuters) - Position: Czech Republic's Finance Minister Incumbent: Andrej Babis Date of Birth: September 2, 1954 Term: Appointed on January 29, 2014 Key Facts: - Slovak-born Babis is one of the richest businessmen in the Czech Republic, worth some $2 billion according to Forbes magazine. Over the past two decades, Babis has built an empire spanning hundreds of firms in the farming, food processing, chemicals and media sectors. ... Full Story | Top |
| Profile: Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:45 AM PST PRAGUE (Reuters) - Position: Prime Minister Incumbent: Bohuslav Sobotka Date of birth: October 23, 1971 Term: Appointed on Jan 17, 2014. Key Facts: - Center-left Social Democrat Sobotka served as finance minister in 2002-2006, an era of record economic growth that kept budget deficits under control. - Sobotka is in favor of deeper European integration, including eventual entry into the euro zone. He favors tax hikes for big firms and top earners to fund social benefits and free healthcare. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia's Islamists cede power to caretaker government Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:44 AM PST  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's new caretaker government formally took office on Wednesday, replacing the Islamist party which came to power after a 2011 uprising but stepped down in a deal intended to help the country embrace democracy. Three years after the uprising against autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali inspired revolts across the region, Tunisia on Monday adopted a new constitution, and a technocrat government has taken over until elections this year. Compromise between Tunisia's Islamist party and their secular opponents to end months of deadlock contrasts with the messy paths taken in neighboring Libya and Egypt, which are still struggling with turmoil and violence. Former premier Ali Larayedh, an Islamist who spent years in prison under Ben Ali, formally handed over to Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa, a technocrat who asked for support to bring stability to the country that started the Arab Spring. Full Story | Top |
| Putin says new Ukraine government needed for full implementation of aid deal Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:33 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would wait until Ukraine forms a new government before fully implementing a $15 billion bailout deal for Kiev, but repeated a promise to honor the agreement in full. A day after Ukraine's prime minister resigned, the move could give Russia leverage over Kiev as it struggles with an upheaval brought on by a decision to ditch landmark agreements with the European Union. (Writing by Steve Gutterman; editing by David Stamp) Full Story | Top |
| Israeli soldiers kill alleged Palestinian gunman in West Bank Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:25 AM PST Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian on Wednesday who the military said had opened fire on their position near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Information Ministry said the man had been unarmed and had been holding a stick or rod he was using to direct traffic. Confirming the man's death, a Palestinian medic identified him as Muhammad Mubarak, 21, a laborer from Jalazoun refugee camp near the Palestinian city of Ramallah, north of Jerusalem. An Israeli military spokeswoman said a Palestinian gunman was shot after attacking troops stationed near the settlement of Ofra. Full Story | Top |
| Brahimi says no substantive progress at Syria talks Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:25 AM PST International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday that he does not expect to achieve anything substantive in the first round of Syria talks ending on Friday but hoped for a more productive second round starting about a week later. He voiced hope that Russia and the United States would exert greater influence over the two sides to bridge "quite large" gaps, adding that the United Nations and Syria's government were still negotiating access for aid to the rebel-held Old City of Homs. Full Story | Top |
| Battle edges closer to Syrian crusader castle Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:17 AM PST President Bashar al-Assad's forces have surrounded rebels near the already war-damaged Crusader castle of Crac des Chevaliers, a UNESCO World Heritage site in central Syria, residents said on Wednesday. Crac des Chevaliers suffered mortar hits last year when rebels from the town of al-Hosn below the hill-top castle hid behind its thick stone walls, built for battles hundreds of years ago. Syria's nearly three-year-old conflict has devastated whole city neighborhoods and many ancient sites, including Aleppo's medieval covered market and its Umayyad mosque. Although fighting has inched closer to Crac des Chevaliers, the castle has not been hit during the two-day-old offensive by troops and local pro-Assad militiamen besieging al-Hosn. Full Story | Top |
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