| Egypt's president cancels decree that sparked protests Posted: 08 Dec 2012 04:49 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi canceled a decree which had sparked huge protests by giving him sweeping powers. But Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood said a referendum on a new constitution would go ahead as planned on December 15 - suggesting the climbdown by Mursi may not be enough to satisfy the opposition. (Writing by Edmund Blair)
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| Syrian rebels elect new military commander Posted: 08 Dec 2012 10:26 AM PST  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebel groups have chosen a former officer to head a new Islamist-dominated command, in a Western-backed effort to put the opposition's house in order as President Bashar al-Assad's army takes hits that could usher his downfall. In Turkey, a newly formed joint command of Syrian rebel groups has chosen Brigadier Selim Idris, one of hundreds of officers who have defected from Assad's army, as its head, opposition sources said on Saturday. ...
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| Man suspected of involvement in Benghazi attack held in Egypt Posted: 08 Dec 2012 05:01 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities are holding a man whose militant group is suspected of links to an attack in Libya in which the American ambassador was killed, U.S. officials in Washington and a security source in Cairo said on Saturday. "They arrested Mohamed Gamal," said one U.S. official. The security source in Cairo, giving the man's full name as Mohamed Gamal Abu Ahmed, said the suspect was being questioned about an alleged role in the attacks in Benghazi in September in which Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador, died along with three other American officials. U.S. ... |
| Pakistan's Zardari in UK, meets girl shot by Taliban Posted: 08 Dec 2012 12:11 PM PST  BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) - Pakistan's President Asif Zardari held a private meeting on Saturday with Malala Yousufzai, the teenage Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban after advocating education for girls, at the British hospital where she is being treated. Yousufzai, who was shot in the head at close range by the Pakistan Taliban in October as she left school in the Swat valley, was flown for specialist treatment at the hospital which has treated hundreds of British soldiers wounded in Afghanistan. ...
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| Israel's Olmert says country facing unprecedented isolation Posted: 08 Dec 2012 03:12 PM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Former prime minister Ehud Olmert said on Saturday that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu was taking Israel into unprecedented isolation with its policy on Jewish settlements. He singled out Israel's recent announcement that it would build new settlement homes in the E1 corridor near Jerusalem. The plan has sparked international protest. Olmert said such plans had been around for years. But making the announcement days after the United States sided with Israel against the Palestinians' successful bid for de facto statehood recognition by the U.N. ...
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| Former South Africa president Mandela admitted to the hospital Posted: 08 Dec 2012 09:03 AM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African president Nelson Mandela was admitted to hospital on Saturday for medical tests, although the government said there was no cause for alarm. A statement from President Jacob Zuma's office gave no details of the condition of the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader. "Former President Mandela will receive medical attention from time to time which is consistent with his age," the statement said. "President Zuma assures all that Madiba is doing well and there is no cause for alarm," it added, referring to Mandela by his clan name. ...
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| Romanians vote in poll that may reopen political spat Posted: 08 Dec 2012 03:56 PM PST BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's prime minister is heading for victory in parliamentary elections on Sunday that could set off another round of a power struggle with the rightist president and complicate talks for a new IMF deal. Prime Minister Victor Ponta's leftist Social Liberal Union (USL) will win most votes and possibly a clear majority, according to opinion polls. But analysts say President Traian Basescu may use his powers to ask one of his own allies to try to form a government. ... |
| Egyptian military says only dialogue can avert disaster Posted: 08 Dec 2012 12:40 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military, stepping into a crisis pitting Islamist President Mohamed Mursi against opponents who accuse him of grabbing excessive power, said on Saturday only dialogue could avert "catastrophe". State broadcasters interrupted their programs to read out an army statement telling feuding factions that a solution to the upheaval in the most populous Arab nation should not contradict "legitimacy and the rules of democracy". ...
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| Doha climate talks throw lifeline to Kyoto Protocol Posted: 08 Dec 2012 11:44 AM PST  DOHA (Reuters) - Almost 200 nations extended a weakened United Nations plan for combating global warming until 2020 on Saturday with a modest set of measures that would do nothing to halt rising world greenhouse gas emissions. Many countries and environmentalists said the deal at the end of marathon two-week U.N. talks in OPEC-member Qatar would fail to slow rising temperatures or avert more floods, droughts, heatwaves and rising sea levels. ...
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| Feted in Gaza, Hamas leader hits out at Israel Posted: 08 Dec 2012 11:30 AM PST  GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, in a defiant speech during his first ever visit to Gaza, told a mass rally on Saturday he would never recognize Israel and pledged to "free the land of Palestine inch by inch". A sea of flag-waving supporters poured into the city centre for celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Islamist group, which has ruled the Gaza Strip - a small splinter of coastal land - since 2007. Meshaal was born in the nearby West Bank but spent all his adult life in exile before arriving in Gaza on Friday for a triumphal visit. ...
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| Egypt panel recommends referendum be held on time Posted: 08 Dec 2012 04:13 PM PST  Members of a presidential national dialogue committee recommended Saturday that a referendum on a disputed constitution be held on schedule but that the president rescinds some powers he had given himself.
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| Anger at Australian radio station over royal hoax Posted: 08 Dec 2012 10:21 AM PST  It started out as a joke, but ended in tragedy.
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| South African icon Nelson Mandela hospitalized Posted: 08 Dec 2012 09:50 AM PST  South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela was admitted to a military hospital Saturday for medical tests, though the nation's president told the public there was "no cause for alarm" over the 94-year-old icon's health.
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| Syrian rebels get new leadership in bid to unite Posted: 08 Dec 2012 12:48 PM PST  Rebel commanders from across Syria have joined forces under a united command they hope will increase coordination between diverse fighting groups and streamline the pathway for arms essential to their struggle against President Bashar Assad.
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| US-led coalition: US doctor rescued from Taliban Posted: 08 Dec 2012 05:00 PM PST An American doctor abducted by the Taliban five days ago was rescued Sunday in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led military coalition said. |
| Italy's PM says he intends to quit over crisis Posted: 08 Dec 2012 02:54 PM PST  Premier Mario Monti told the Italian president Saturday he is resigning soon, saying he can no longer govern after Silvio Berlusconi's party withdrew crucial support. It paves the way for early elections a year after the unelected economist helped pull the country back from the brink of financial disaster.
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| Storm that killed 600 threatens Philippines again Posted: 08 Dec 2012 09:36 AM PST  A typhoon that had left the Philippines after killing nearly 600 people and leaving hundreds missing in the south has made a U-turn and is now threatening the country's northwest, officials said Saturday.
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| Egypt's military returns to the political fray Posted: 08 Dec 2012 03:44 PM PST  Egypt's powerful military, sidelined last summer by the newly elected Islamist president, edged back Saturday into a political fray boiling over with tensions between secular forces and a government determined to pass a constitution enshrining a central role for religion.
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| UN conference adopts extension of Kyoto accord Posted: 08 Dec 2012 11:23 AM PST  Seeking to control global warming, nearly 200 countries agreed Saturday to extend the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty that limits the greenhouse gas output of some rich countries, but will only cover about 15 percent of global emissions.
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| Hanukkah festivities begin with candle lighting Posted: 08 Dec 2012 04:40 PM PST  Jews around the world ushered in the eight-day Hanukkah festival Saturday evening, lighting the first candles of ceremonial lamps that symbolize triumph over oppression.
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