| Philippine typhoon death toll to rise as rescuers reach remote areas Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:44 PM PST By Andrew R.C. Marshall and Manuel Mogato TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuters) - Rescue workers tried to reach towns and villages in the central Philippines on Tuesday that were cut off by a powerful typhoon, fearing the estimated death toll of 10,000 could jump sharply, as relief efforts intensified with the help of U.S. military. The United States will send an aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, to the Philippines, a U.S. defense official told Reuters, in a move that could further scale up air operations at a time when ground teams are struggling to reach areas where roads are impassable and bridges destroyed. Officials in Tacloban, which bore the brunt of one of the strongest storms ever recorded when it slammed into the Philippines on Friday, have said the death toll could be 10,000 in their city alone. Compounding the misery for survivors, a depression is due to bring rain to the central and southern Philippines on Tuesday, the weather bureau said. |
| Kerry sees nuclear deal with Iran as diplomacy warms Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:45 PM PST  By Lesley Wroughton and Andrew Osborn ABU DHABI/LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he hoped an agreement on Iran's disputed nuclear program would be signed within months and London and Tehran revived diplomatic ties, signs of a warmer atmosphere between the Islamic Republic and the West. In a further indication of cooperation, the United Nations nuclear watchdog reached an agreement under which Iran will grant U.N. inspectors access to more nuclear facilities. Iran and six world powers - the United States, Britain, Russia, France, China and Germany - came close to a preliminary nuclear agreement at the weekend during talks in Geneva and decided to resume negotiations on November 20 in their attempt to defuse a decade-old standoff. However, he added: "Through diplomacy we have an absolute responsibility to pursue an agreement." While saying that a deal with Iran was expected within months, Kerry tried to reassure Washington's Arab allies and Israel that his country would not abandon them.
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| China to unveil 10-year reform plan, expectations toned down Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:13 PM PST  By Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - China's leaders will unveil a reform agenda for the next decade on Tuesday, seeking to balance the need to overhaul the world's second-largest economy as it loses steam with preserving stability and to reinforce the Communist Party's power. Economic reforms were expected to dominate four days of closed-door talks that began on Saturday and involved the 205-member Central Committee of China's ruling Communist Party. Some social and political issues could have been tackled, but Western-style political reform were probably not on the agenda, analysts said. President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang must unleash new growth drivers as the economy, after three decades of breakneck expansion, begins to sputter, burdened by industrial overcapacity, piles of debt and eroding competitiveness.
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| Congo, M23 rebels peace signing delayed over wording of pact Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:47 PM PST  By Elias Biryabarema and Richard Lough ENTEBBE, Uganda (Reuters) - A ceremony to formally end Congo's bloodiest conflict in a decade was delayed on Monday by an 11th-hour spat between the government and M23 rebels over whether the document should be entitled a peace agreement or a vaguer declaration. M23 gave up their 20-month insurgency last week after the Democratic Republic of Congo's army, backed by a U.N. force, routed them from their last hilltop hideouts along the eastern border with Rwanda and Uganda. The deal between the Kinshasa government and M23 was due to be signed in the Ugandan city of Entebbe at 6 p.m. (10 a.m. ET) but was suddenly delayed, with no one knowing whether the hold-up would last for hours or days. The Congolese government says it came here to sign a declaration," Uganda's junior foreign affairs minister, Okello Oryem, told Reuters.
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| Egypt is worst Arab state for women, Comoros best: poll Posted: 11 Nov 2013 04:46 PM PST  By Crina Boros LONDON, Nov 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Sexual harassment, high rates of female genital cutting and a surge in violence and Islamist feeling after the Arab Spring uprisings have made Egypt the worst country in the Arab world to be a woman, a poll of gender experts showed on Tuesday. Discriminatory laws and a spike in trafficking also contributed to Egypt's place at the bottom of a ranking of 22 Arab states, the Thomson Reuters Foundation survey found. "We removed the Mubarak from our presidential palace but we still have to remove the Mubarak who lives in our minds and in our bedrooms," Egyptian columnist Mona Eltahawy said, referring to Egypt's toppled dictator, Hosni Mubarak. "As the miserable poll results show, we women need a double revolution, one against the various dictators who've ruined our countries and the other against a toxic mix of culture and religion that ruin our lives as women." The foundation's third annual women's rights poll (http://poll2013.trust.org) gives a comprehensive snapshot of the state of women's rights in the Arab world three years after the events of 2011 and as Syria's conflict threatens further regional upheaval.
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| Britain's Cameron to make first China visit since Dalai Lama row Posted: 11 Nov 2013 12:09 PM PST  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron will lead a major trade delegation to China early next month, he said on Monday, his first such visit since he angered Beijing by meeting the Dalai Lama last year. The trip reflects the British government's desire to cultivate closer trade and business links with the world's second biggest economy and to draw a line under a diplomatic spat involving Tibet's spiritual leader. "I will take senior British ministers, as well as business leaders from every sector large and small, to forge a relationship that will benefit both our countries," Cameron said in a speech, according to an advance copy from his office. He said the trip would help British companies access China's vast markets and prepare "the way for a new level of Chinese investment in the UK".
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| In wrecked chapel, 10 bodies, and a father's pain Posted: 11 Nov 2013 04:52 PM PST  TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) — There is no functioning morgue here, so people have been collecting the dead from Typhoon Haiyan and storing them where they can — in this case, St. Michael The Archangel Chapel.
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| Syria opposition says would attend peace talks with conditions Posted: 11 Nov 2013 04:49 PM PST  Syria's main opposition grouping said Monday it will attend peace talks on the condition that President Bashar al-Assad transfers power and is excluded from any transition process. In a statement issued after two days of meetings in Istanbul, the key National Coalition said it would take part in mooted peace talks in Geneva "on the basis of the full transfer of power." It also stipulated "that Bashar al-Assad and those with the blood of Syrians on their hands have no role in the transitional phase and Syria's future. Speaking in Abu Dhabi, US Secretary of State John Kerry said any decision by the opposition to take part in talks would be a "big step."
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| Venezuelans jam stores again as gov't curbs prices Posted: 11 Nov 2013 04:40 PM PST  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Throngs of Venezuelans stood in lines outside appliance stores for a fourth day on Monday after President Nicolas Maduro deployed the army to force retailers to slash prices.
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| Tide turns on one front in Africa's war against rhino poachers Posted: 11 Nov 2013 04:40 PM PST  By Ed Stoddard MADIKWE GAME RESERVE, South Africa (Reuters) - New infantry-style tactics of concealment and ambush by armed park rangers are credited with turning the tide in the war against poachers of the endangered rhino on one front, in South Africa's Madikwe Game Reserve. Since April, Madikwe rangers previously so under-equipped that they lacked even boots have been undergoing military training overseen by a former British special forces soldier. "Since the training started in April, we have not lost a rhino that we know of," said Declan Hofmeyr, chief of operations at Madikwe. To be precise, the last rhino known to have been poached in the park was on April 6, more than 200 days ago, a remarkable turn of events given the onslaught that had been taking place.
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| Factbox: Women's rights in the Arab world Posted: 11 Nov 2013 04:29 PM PST By Karrie Kehoe Nov 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Egypt is the worst country for women in the Arab world, closely followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen, according to gender experts surveyed in a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll released on Tuesday. Comoros, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar came top of the survey, which assessed 22 Arab states on violence against women, reproductive rights, treatment of women within the family, their integration into society and attitudes towards a woman's role in politics and the economy. ... |
| Mexico says former US soldier led kidnap gang Posted: 11 Nov 2013 04:21 PM PST  Monterrey (Mexico) (AFP) - Authorities have detained a former US soldier accused of leading a gang of kidnappers in northern Mexico, officials said Monday. The 32-year-old suspect spearheaded a band of 16 people who operated in the states of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila and Tamaulipas in the past four years, said Nuevo Leon security spokesman Jorge Domene. He carried two identities -- Luis Ricardo Gonzalez Garcia and Javier Aguirre Cardenas -- and moved to Nuevo Leon's industrial city of Monterrey from the United States in 2009, Domene said.
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| UN expects 'the worst' in Philippines typhoon disaster Posted: 11 Nov 2013 04:16 PM PST  Tacloban (Philippines) (AFP) - The UN warned it expected "the worst" in the typhoon disaster that devastated the Philippines, saying one town alone may have more than 10,000 dead, adding even more urgency to rescue operations underway Tuesday. The Manila government has declared a national emergency and desperation was mounting in the central Philippines where countless bodies were scattered across wastelands, four days after the unprecedented havoc wreaked by Super Typhoon Haiyan. The United Nations warned Monday the death toll was quickly mounting. As we get more and more access we find the tragedy of more and more people killed in this typhoon," a top UN humanitarian official, John Ging, said.
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| Experts: Man, nature share typhoon tragedy blame Posted: 11 Nov 2013 04:12 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Nature and man together cooked up the disaster in the Philippines.
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| 29 killed in S.Africa bus accident Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:56 PM PST  A bus collision in South Africa late Monday killed 29 people and severely injured 11 others, on a road notorious for deadly accidents, a government spokesman said. "The number is now 29," said Mpumalanga province safety department spokesman Joseph Mabuza, updating an earlier tally of 26 dead. The bus collided with a truck near the town Kwaggafontein 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of the capital Pretoria. The bus was traveling from Pretoria when it collided with a truck which had swerved out of its lane, said Mabuza.
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| Relief effort begins after Philippine typhoon Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:53 PM PST  Foreign governments and agencies have announced a major relief effort to help victims of the Philippine typhoon. Here are some of the pledges they have made:
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| Britain sending warship to aid Philippines relief efforts Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:48 PM PST Britain is sending a navy warship with equipment to make drinking water from seawater and a military transport aircraft to help relief efforts in the Philippines, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday. He said HMS Daring would provide humanitarian assistance and flights from its onboard helicopter while at least one Boeing C-17 military transport aircraft would be allocated to move humanitarian aid to areas that are most in need and hardest to reach. "HMS Daring, currently deployed near Singapore, will shortly be heading at full speed towards the disaster zone with further support from an RAF (Royal Air Force) C-17 which will be a powerful help to the relief operation," Cameron told a dinner attended by business leaders in London. |
| Britain says Iran to face tougher sanctions without nuclear deal Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:45 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday that there would be pressure to intensify sanctions on Iran if it could not reach a deal with world powers over its disputed nuclear program. "It's very important for the Iranian authorities to understand that the pressure will be there for greater sanctions, for an intensification of sanctions, unless an agreement is reached on these matters," Hague told parliament. (Reporting by Peter Griffiths and Andrew Osborn; Editing by Andrew Osborn) |
| UK: Iran to face tougher sanctions without nuclear deal Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:45 PM PST British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday that there would be pressure to intensify sanctions on Iran if it could not reach a deal with world powers over its disputed nuclear program. But if Tehran could strike a preliminary agreement, world powers would lift some of the sanctions they have imposed on it offering it "limited, proportionate sanctions relief," Hague added, saying he felt there was a real chance of getting a deal. Hague was speaking after Iran and six world powers, including Britain, came close to a preliminary agreement about Tehran's nuclear program in Geneva at the weekend. |
| Pentagon orders aircraft carrier, ships to Philippines Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:39 PM PST  US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other American ships to head to the typhoon-stricken Philippines, the Pentagon said Monday.
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| Congo peace deal postponed over disagreement Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:37 PM PST ENTEBBE, Uganda (AP) — An expected peace deal between Congo's government and M23 rebels was postponed after Congolese officials asked for more time to study the document, a Ugandan government spokesman said Monday, the day Western diplomats and Ugandan officials believed a final accord would be signed after nearly a year of negotiations. |
| U.S. aircraft carrier to arrive for Philippines relief in 48-72 hours Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:08 PM PST Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the USS George Washington aircraft carrier to head to the Philippines to support relief efforts and it should arrive in 48 to 72 hours, the Pentagon said on Monday, confirming a Reuters report. A Pentagon statement said crew from the George Washington, which carries some 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft, were being recalled early from shore leave in Hong Kong and the ship was expected to be under way in the coming hours. Other U.S. Navy ships would also head to the Philippines, it said. |
| Syrian opposition group approves partial cabinet Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:08 PM PST  ISTANBUL (AP) — Syria's main Western-backed opposition group has approved a partial cabinet charged with administering rebel-held territories inside Syria.
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| Typhoon victims in Philippines plead for aid Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:05 PM PST  TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) — Bloated bodies lay uncollected and uncounted in the streets and desperate survivors pleaded for food, water and medicine as rescue workers took on a daunting task Monday in the typhoon-battered islands of the Philippines. Thousands were feared dead.
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| Feel in danger? Stay classy, buy a bulletproof suit Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:57 PM PST  Toronto (Canada) (AFP) - A Canadian tailor is releasing a three-piece suit that has everything a danger-seeking 21st century executive could need -- killer looks plus bulletproof protection that would make James Bond envious. The company, Garrison Bespoke, believes it has combined style and safety, using lightweight carbon nanotube technology to absorb impact from bullets fired from handguns and prevent punctures from knife attacks. "We focused on making the ultimate James Bond suit," said David Tran, head of special projects for Garrison Bespoke.
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| Four linked to Westgate mall attack appear in Kenyan court Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:50 PM PST  The four suspects, none of whom are accused of being the gunmen in the mall, are Mohammed Ahmed Abdi, Liban Abdullah, Adan Adan and Hussein Hassan. "The prosecution must come with a strong and convincing case for why these people should conduct their trial while in custody," defence lawyer Mbugua Mureithi told the court. Interpol is assisting Kenya in trying to identify four bodies suspected to be those of the gunmen. The Kenyan Red Cross has said some 20 people are still missing, and there are fears more bodies could be found in the wreckage of the mall.
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| Hollande booed at war dead commemorations in Paris Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:48 PM PST  A solemn event presided over by French President Francois Hollande to remember those who died in World War I turned into a shouting match Monday after protesters booed the unpopular leader. To the anger of others who had come to commemorate the millions killed in the 1914-18 war, protesters shouted "Hollande resign" and "Socialist dictatorship" as the president was driven up the French capital's famous Champs-Elysees avenue. You're a disgrace for France!", one onlooker yelled at the protesters during the Remembrance Day ceremony. Scuffles broke out between protesters and security forces, and police said 73 people had been detained, some of whom were linked to far-right movements, including a grouping called the "French Spring" that opposes France's gay marriage law.
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| Typhoon-hit victims in Philippines plead for aid Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:32 PM PST TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) — Bloated bodies lay uncollected and uncounted in the streets and desperate survivors pleaded for food, water and medicine as rescue workers took on a daunting task Monday in the typhoon-battered islands of the Philippines. Thousands were feared dead. |
| Sudan government, rebels block vaccination drive Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:31 PM PST  The Sudan government and a key rebel group are refusing to let UN workers vaccinate 160,000 children against polio in conflict-stricken states despite agreeing to a ceasefire, the UN said Monday. UN humanitarian operations director John Ging said he had appealed to the UN Security Council for pressure to end what he called a "filibuster" by the Sudan government and opposition Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) on humanitarian access. Polio has reappeared in East Africa, and the United Nations is worried that the conflict in Sudan's South Kordofan and Blue Nile states could help it spread again. The UN brokered a ceasefire between the government forces and SPLM-N for November 5-November 12, but the two sides would still not let aid workers in, Ging told reporters, expressing frustration at obstacles to getting humanitarian access.
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| Iran, US trade blame over failed nuclear deal Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:09 PM PST  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and the United States on Monday blamed each other for the failure to reach agreement on a deal to limit Iran's uranium enrichment in exchange for an easing of Western sanctions.
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| Stamkos suffers broken right leg, dims Olympic hopes Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:03 PM PST  Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos, who shares the National Hockey League lead with 14 goals this season, suffered a broken right leg on Monday and will be out indefinitely. The injury means Stamkos could miss out on playing for Canada in February at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, when his homeland defends the gold medal won on home ice in 2010 at Vancouver. The 23-year-old Canadian, the top pick of the 2008 NHL Draft and 2012 NHL goal-scoring champion, was stretchered off the ice with 7:11 remaining in the second period of an eventual 3-0 loss to the host Boston Bruins. The Lightning confirmed that Stamkos has a broken right tibia, but Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman would not confirm a TSN Canada report that he will need surgery.
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| Britain's Cameron to visit China in December Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:02 PM PST  British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday he would visit China in early December to meet the new leadership in Beijing and forge business links. He said he would take a delegation of ministers and business leaders on the trip, which will be his first to the Asian powerhouse since President Xi Jinping took office in March. The trip is regarded as so crucial that the annual Autumn Statement budget update by finance minister George Osborne is being postponed by one day to December 5. The announcement comes a month after Cameron's coalition government signed a £16-billion ($26-billion, 18.9-billion-euro) deal involving Chinese nuclear firms CGN and CNNC to build Britain's first nuclear plant in a generation, along with French energy giant EDF.
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| IMF, Iran discuss need to beat inflation, grow economy Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:01 PM PST  The International Monetary Fund said Monday that it held high-level discussions with Iranian officials on the need to combat inflation and undertake reforms to get the economy growing. The IMF said the Iranian economy, which has been crippled by UN-backed sanctions over its nuclear program, faces domestic challenges as well and that the new government was aware of the need of reforms. Ten days of discussions that ended Thursday "focused on the need for Iran to tackle high inflation and restore economic growth, as well as on the need for Iran to begin addressing long-standing policy and structural challenges in the economy," the Fund said in a statement. The brief statement focused on domestic policy issues and suggested the authorities were aware of some of the things they needed to do.
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| Germany starts identifying Munich art found online Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST  BERLIN (AP) — Bowing to pressure from Jewish groups and art experts, the German government made public details of paintings in a recovered trove of some 1,400 pieces of art, many of which may have been stolen by the Nazis, and said it would put together a task force to speed identification.
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| DR Congo, M23 rebels fail to sign peace deal Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:55 PM PST Entebbe (Uganda) (AFP) - The Democratic Republic of Congo and defeated M23 rebels Monday failed to sign a peace deal hoped to be a key step in stabilising the conflict-prone east after Kinshasa demanded the agreement be revised. The "DRC delegation has aborted the signing of agreement with M23," Ugandan government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said, adding that the meeting was adjourned without a new date scheduled. The M23 rebels, one of many armed groups operating in the mineral-rich but impoverished east of the DR Congo, have been routed by the national army, who are backed by a 3,000-strong special UN intervention brigade. But DR Congo Foreign Affairs Minister Raymond Tshibanda said Kinshasa was committed to peace. |
| Iran-IAEA accord only a first step Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:53 PM PST  A framework accord signed Monday in Tehran by the UN atomic agency and Iran is only a very preliminary step towards addressing concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme, analysts said. In particular it does very little to ease fears about the nuclear reactor Iran is building in Arak and no specific mention is made of the watchdog's long-stalled probe into alleged past efforts to develop an atomic bomb. But at the same time, it keeps the momentum going in separate but related efforts to resolve the long-running standoff over Iran ahead of a fresh round of talks with world powers in Geneva on November 20. It requires Iran to provide the International Atomic Energy Agency within three months with information on all new research reactors and to identify 16 sites designated for the construction of nuclear power plants.
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