| Western embassies edgy as Muslim anger at film simmers Posted: 16 Sep 2012 03:46 PM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Western embassies across the Muslim world remained on high alert on Sunday and the United States urged vigilance after days of anti-American violence provoked by a video mocking the Prophet Mohammad. The head of Libya's national assembly said an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans last Tuesday looked like a planned assault by a "group with an agenda" rather than a spontaneous reaction to the video posted online. ...
|
| Slow, costly road to unity in Syria's revolt Posted: 16 Sep 2012 09:10 AM PDT  AMMAN (Reuters) - Until Syrian forces stormed the Damascus suburb of Daraya last month, rebels ran the affairs of the working class town in a display of grassroots unity which has eluded President Bashar al-Assad's opponents on a national level. The nascent self-rule in Daraya mirrored arrangements in towns across Syria, particularly northern rural districts, which have fallen out of Assad's control during the 18-month uprising. ...
|
| Pope urges Arab leaders to work for peace in raging Middle East Posted: 16 Sep 2012 11:08 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Pope Benedict urged Arab leaders on Sunday at a huge open-air mass in Lebanon to work for reconciliation in a Middle East riven by Syria's civil war and blazing with fury over a film mocking the Muslim Prophet Mohammad. "May God grant to your country, to Syria and to the Middle East, the gift of peaceful hearts, the silencing of weapons and the cessation of all violence," the pope said in a prayer after a mass that organizers said was attended by 350,000 people. ...
|
| Libyan leader says 50 arrested in U.S. consulate attack Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:44 PM PDT  WASHINGTON/TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The head of Libya's national congress said on Sunday about 50 people had been arrested in connection with a deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last week, although the interior minister put the figure far lower. Tuesday's attack in Benghazi coincided with protests over a video made in the United States that denigrates the Prophet Mohammad. It resulted in the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. Libyan assembly head Mohammed Magarief was asked by the "Face the Nation" program on the U.S. ...
|
| Insight: China builds its own military-industrial complex Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:14 PM PDT  HONG KONG (Reuters) - When China turned to Russia for supplies of advanced weapons through the 1990s, it kick-started Beijing's military build-up with an immediate boost in firepower. It also demonstrated the failure of its domestic defense sector which was still turning out obsolete 1950s vintage equipment for the People's Liberation Army from a sprawling network of state-owned arms makers. ...
|
| Islamist militants attack Egypt security HQ in Sinai Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:26 PM PDT ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Islamist militants attacked Egypt's security headquarters in northern Sinai with machineguns and mortar bombs on Sunday and fought troops elsewhere in the desert region, killing one soldier and wounding seven, security officials said. Troops and police had swept into a village 15 km south of Sheikh Zuwaid town, near the border with Israel, at dawn and arrested ten suspected militant leaders. They took them to the security HQ in the region's main town of al-Arish, an army spokesman said. ... |
| China struggles to cure the violent ills of health system Posted: 16 Sep 2012 03:13 PM PDT  GUANGZHOU/BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing is struggling to deal with an increasingly violent flashpoint of social unrest in its healthcare system, as its latest bid to cut costs is failing to ease tensions among millions of people who cannot afford basic treatment. Violent attacks directed at hospital doctors and other healthcare workers in the form of beatings, threats, kidnappings, verbal abuse and even killings soared in recent years to 17,243 cases in 2010, alarming central policymakers who regard China's overhaul of its lumbering public healthcare system a top national priority. ...
|
| Panetta seeks closer Sino-U.S. ties as China military expands Posted: 16 Sep 2012 12:31 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will look for ways to deepen military relations with China during a visit to Asia this week, even as he works to bolster U.S. alliances in the region as part of a strategic shift that Beijing views with concern. Panetta, who arrived in Tokyo on Sunday, is making his third trip to Asia as defense secretary at a time when China is embroiled in testy territorial disputes with Japan and the Philippines, two key U.S. allies in the region. ...
|
| Venezuela opposition chides Chavez over recent weeping jag Posted: 16 Sep 2012 12:59 PM PDT  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate chided Hugo Chavez on Sunday for publicly weeping over the loss of freedom he has had to contend with during his 14 years in power, all part of an increasingly dramatic campaign ahead of the October 7 vote. Facing his toughest-ever re-election challenge, socialist "revolutionary" Chavez teared up during a televised speech on Saturday, lamenting the loss of his freedom to roam anonymously through Venezuela's towns and countryside. ...
|
| Analysis: China hurts own credibility with Xi's vanishing act Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:07 PM PDT  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, did more than apparently injure his back this month - by vanishing from public without explanation for two weeks, he also wounded his own credibility. China political experts expressed dismay over the ruling Communist Party's handling of Xi's ailment, which remains a state secret despite sources close to the leadership saying he did no more than hurt his back in a swimming pool. ...
|
| Clashes over prophet film; Hezbollah urges demos Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:14 PM PDT  Hundreds of Pakistanis protesting an anti-Islam film broke through a barricade near the U.S. Consulate in the southern city of Karachi on Sunday, sparking clashes with police in which one demonstrator was killed and more than a dozen injured.
|
| Civil war keeps many Syrian children from school Posted: 16 Sep 2012 12:59 PM PDT  Nine-year-old Rawan Mustafa knew she would miss school this year.
|
| Multiple personalities of the Muslim rage Posted: 16 Sep 2012 12:54 PM PDT  At the height of the latest Islamic rage, one of the Muslim world's first media-celebrity imams told worshippers they were indeed witnessing a clash of civilizations. But just not the kind you think.
|
| South Africa police halt peaceful strikers' march Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:23 PM PDT  South African police halted a peaceful march by striking miners without violence Sunday, a day after firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse illegal protesters.
|
| Afghan insider attack kills 4 US troops Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:48 PM PDT  Afghan police killed four American soldiers coming to their aid after a checkpoint attack Sunday, the third assault by government forces or insurgents disguised in military uniforms in as many days.
|
| Palace to file criminal complaint over Kate pics Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:37 PM PDT  Lawyers for Britain's royal family will make a criminal complaint against the photographer who took pictures of Prince William's wife Kate sunbathing topless in the south of France, William's office said Sunday.
|
| 17 mutilated bodies found in central Mexico Posted: 16 Sep 2012 03:37 PM PDT The dismembered bodies of 17 men were found Sunday on a farm in central Mexico, in an area disputed by violent drug cartels, officials said. |
| Syria accuses Turkey of allowing al-Qaida transit Posted: 16 Sep 2012 12:36 PM PDT  Syria accused neighboring Turkey Sunday of allowing thousands of Muslim extremists to cross into its territory, as the government and opposition said an explosion killed at least seven and cut off a main road leading south from the capital.
|
| Egypt: soldier dies in clash with Sinai militants Posted: 16 Sep 2012 12:44 PM PDT Islamic militants clashed with army and police troops in the Sinai Peninsula on Sunday following the arrest of some of their members, killing one soldier and leaving six of his colleagues and two civilians wounded, Egypt's military spokesman said. |
| Baluchistan Journalists threatened: Death or jail Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:45 PM PDT  The telephone call to local journalists generally comes in the late evening. The voice on the other end is harsh. He has a statement he wants printed, and he prefaces it with a terse order: "Report our messages without making any changes or we will kill you."
|
