| Body of India rape victim arrives home in New Delhi Posted: 29 Dec 2012 04:22 PM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The body of a woman whose gang rape provoked protests and rare national debate about violence against women in India arrived back in New Delhi in the early hours of Sunday morning. The unidentified 23-year-old medical student died from her injuries on Saturday, prompting promises of action from a government that has struggled to respond to public outrage. She had suffered brain injuries and massive internal damage in the attack on December 16, and died in hospital in Singapore where she had been taken for treatment. ...
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| Syria doomed to "hell" without political deal: envoy Posted: 29 Dec 2012 10:40 AM PST  MOSCOW/AZAZ, Syria (Reuters) - The international mediator touting a peace plan for Syria warned on Saturday of "hell" if the warring sides shun talks, and Moscow accused enemies of President Bashar al-Assad of blocking negotiations. U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said in Moscow that responsible people inside and outside Syria should "help the Syrians stop their descent into more and more bloodshed, into more and more chaos and perhaps a failed state". ...
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| Arab officials visit cash-strapped Palestinian territory Posted: 29 Dec 2012 06:08 AM PST  RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Top Arab officials paid a rare visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday to discuss a Palestinian financial crisis that President Mahmoud Abbas hopes will be eased by Arab donations. Arab League Chief Nabil Elaraby and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr congratulated the Palestinians on a successful United Nations status upgrade last month, but stopped short of promising the badly-needed funds. "Palestine is in need of material and political support," Elaraby told a news conference in the Palestinians' de facto capital of Ramallah. ...
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| Egypt lets building material cross its border into Gaza Posted: 29 Dec 2012 06:45 AM PST  ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Islamist-led Egypt allowed building materials into Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Saturday for the first time since Hamas seized control of the Palestinian enclave in 2007, an Egyptian border official said. It was part of a shipment of building materials donated by the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, which has pledged $400 million to finance reconstruction in Gaza. The Islamist group Hamas has run Gaza since driving out its rivals in the Palestinian Authority. ...
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| Britain heading in the right direction: Cameron Posted: 29 Dec 2012 04:02 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday Britain was heading in the right direction on all its major issues and could look forward to 2013 with realism and optimism. In a New Year video message, Cameron said the country had made progress on cutting its budget deficit, reforming welfare and improving school standards. Deficit reduction and preserving Britain's credit rating have been goals for the coalition of Cameron's Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, which came to power in June 2010 just after the budget deficit peaked at 11.2 percent of GDP. ...
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| Blast in Pakistan's Karachi kills six on bus, 48 hurt Posted: 29 Dec 2012 04:31 AM PST  KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - A bomb went off on a bus in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Saturday killing six people and wounding 48, police and a hospital official said. Pakistan's commercial capital and biggest city has seen numerous militant attacks over the past 10 years and is also plagued by violence between rival ethnic-based factions. The bus sustained serious damage in the explosion and a subsequent fire. While police said the bomb had been planted on the bus, provincial official Sharfud Din Memon said it was left on a motor-bike and went off as the bus passed. ...
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| Berlusconi says Monti plotting with Italy's center left Posted: 29 Dec 2012 01:45 PM PST  ROME/MILAN (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday that outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti was plotting with the left in his centrist alliance's bid to win Italy's national election in February, but centrist leaders denied any secret accord. Monti, who replaced Berlusconi as prime minister last year when Italy was scrambling to avert a financial crisis, said on Friday he wanted to unite a broad coalition of factions around a reform agenda aimed at easing the country's economic woes. ...
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| Rebels extend reach in Central African Republic ahead of peace talks Posted: 29 Dec 2012 08:07 AM PST  BANGUI (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic took control of a strategic town north of the capital on Saturday after soldiers defending it withdrew, ramping up tensions ahead of planned peace talks. The three-week-old uprising by SELEKA rebels poses the biggest threat yet to President Francois Bozize's near ten-year rule over the former French colony - a nation plagued by poverty and turmoil despite its rich natural resources. ...
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| Four killed when Russian airliner crash lands Posted: 29 Dec 2012 12:55 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian airliner flying without passengers broke into pieces after it slid off the runway and crashed onto a highway outside Moscow upon landing on Saturday, killing four of the eight crew on board and leaving smoking chunks of fuselage on the icy road. The crash during peak holiday travel ahead of Russia's New Year's vacation, which runs from Sunday through January 9, cast a spotlight on the country's poor air-safety record despite President Vladimir Putin's calls to improve controls. ...
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| Macedonian opposition rallies to demand early elections Posted: 29 Dec 2012 05:43 AM PST  SKOPJE (Reuters) - Several thousand people rallied in front of the headquarters of Macedonia's rightist ruling party on Saturday demanding the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and early elections. The rally was the culmination of days of smaller countrywide protests provoked by an incident last week when the opposition was ejected from the parliament after a disagreement and a brawl over the size of next year's budget. ...
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| 21 missing Pakistani policemen found shot dead Posted: 29 Dec 2012 02:28 PM PST  PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Twenty-one tribal policemen believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban were found shot dead in Pakistan's troubled northwest tribal region early Sunday, government officials said.
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| Russian FM says Assad won't go Posted: 29 Dec 2012 12:23 PM PST  MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's foreign minister said Saturday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has no intention of stepping down and it would be impossible to try to persuade him otherwise.
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| 4 dead in Moscow airliner crash Posted: 29 Dec 2012 10:59 AM PST  MOSCOW (AP) — A passenger airliner careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport and partly onto a highway while landing on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing at least four people.
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| French panel overturns 75 percent tax on ultrarich Posted: 29 Dec 2012 01:56 PM PST PARIS (AP) — Embattled French President Francois Hollande suffered a fresh setback Saturday when France's highest court threw out a plan to tax the ultrawealthy at a 75 percent rate, saying it was unfair. |
| Egypt's president warns against dangers to economy Posted: 29 Dec 2012 12:43 PM PST  CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist president used his first address before the newly convened upper house of parliament on Saturday to warn against any unrest that could harm the country's battered economy, as he renewed calls for the opposition to join in a national dialogue.
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| Arab League chief says Palestinians to petition UN Posted: 29 Dec 2012 12:44 PM PST  RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said Saturday that two decades of talks with Israel have been "a waste of time" and that Palestinians will soon take a new statehood bid to the U.N.
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| Venezuela VP in Cuba to visit ailing Chavez Posted: 29 Dec 2012 08:38 AM PST  HAVANA (AP) — Venezuela's vice president arrived in Havana on Saturday in a sudden and unexpected trip to visit President Hugo Chavez as he recovers from cancer surgery.
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| Berlusconi criticizes Monti's campaign about-face Posted: 29 Dec 2012 12:27 PM PST  ROME (AP) — Ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi sharply criticized the decision by Mario Monti to run in Italy's general elections and vowed Saturday to launch a parliamentary inquiry into the 2011 fall of his government and appointment of Monti as Italy's premier.
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| At Israel school, anyone can learn to be a prophet Posted: 29 Dec 2012 07:54 AM PST  TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Instead of long beards and robes, they wear track suits and T-shirts. Their tablets are electronic, not hewn of stone, and they hold smartphones, not staffs. They may not look the part, but this ragtag group of Israelis is training to become the next generation of prophets.
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| Attackers in India rape case to face murder charge Posted: 29 Dec 2012 05:16 AM PST  NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police charged six men with murder on Saturday, adding to accusations that they beat and gang-raped a woman on a New Delhi bus nearly two weeks ago in a case that shocked the country.
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