| India throws rings of protection around divisive candidate Modi Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:10 PM PST  By Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI (Reuters) - - Indian security forces are preparing for one of their most challenging assignments in decades, protecting prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in a country with a grim history of political assassinations. A series of small bombs killed six people at a rally the Hindu nationalist leader held in the city of Patna on October 20. Authorities said the home-grown Indian Mujahideen (IM) group was responsible. While Modi was not in the immediate vicinity of the explosions, the message was clear.
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| Insight: Won for the money: North Korea experiments with exchange rates Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:02 PM PST  By James Pearson SEOUL (Reuters) - In a dimly-lit Pyongyang toyshop packed with Mickey Mouse picture frames and plastic handguns, a basketball sells for 46,000 Korean People's Won - close to $500 at North Korea's centrally planned exchange rate. Luckily, for young North Koreans looking to shoot hoops with Dennis Rodman, the new friend of leader Kim Jong Un, the Chinese-made ball actually costs a little less than $6 based on black market rates. Once reserved for official exchange only in zones aimed at attracting foreign investment, and in illegal underground market deals elsewhere, black market rates are being used more frequently and openly in North Korean cities. Publicly advertised prices at rates close to the market rate - around 8,000 won to the dollar versus the official rate of 96 - could signal Pyongyang is trying to marketise its centrally planned economy and allow a burgeoning "grey market" to thrive.
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| Syria opposition lays preconditions for peace talks Posted: 03 Nov 2013 12:13 PM PST  By Yasmine Saleh and Ayman Samir CAIRO (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition set terms on Sunday for attending peace talks to end the Syrian civil war, in a move that throws the proposed conference into further confusion after the international envoy said there should be no preconditions. The long-delayed talks - known as Geneva 2 - are meant to bring Syria's warring sides to the negotiating table, but have been repeatedly delayed because of disputes between world powers, divisions among the opposition and irreconcilable positions of Assad and the rebels. Syrian National Coalition President Ahmad Jarba said the opposition would not attend unless there was a clear timeframe for President Bashar al-Assad to leave power. He also said they could not accept the presence of Iran.
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| Kerry sees signs Egypt moving back towards democracy Posted: 03 Nov 2013 02:14 PM PST  By Lesley Wroughton and Shaimaa Fayed CAIRO (Reuters) - A day before Egypt's deposed Islamist president goes on trial, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday expressed guarded optimism about a return to democracy in the country during a tour partly aimed at easing tensions with major Arab powers. On his first visit to Egypt since the army removed president Mohamed Mursi in July, Kerry called for fair, transparent trials for all citizens. However, he described Cairo as a vital partner to the United States and the region, as he tried to repair relations hurt by a partial freeze in U.S. aid. Kerry said the relationship between the United States and Egypt should not be defined by aid but by a partnership, and promised to launch talks on a U.S.-Egypt strategic dialogue.
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| Another Canadian freight train derails in Alberta, no injuries Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:14 PM PST By Jeffrey Hodgson TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian National Railway Co train carrying lumber and sulfur dioxide derailed in the Western Canadian province of Alberta on Sunday, but there were no injuries or spills of dangerous goods, a spokesman for the railway said. And Sunday's derailment comes just two weeks after another Canadian National Railway train carrying crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas derailed and caught fire in Alberta. The train that derailed on Sunday was traveling eastbound near the hamlet of Peers, Alberta, which is about 110 miles from the provincial capital of Edmonton, when 13 freight cars went off the tracks at about 1 a.m. local time. Twelve of the cars were carrying lumber, the railway said, while one was a dangerous-goods tanker car carry sulfur dioxide, a toxic gas. |
| Toronto mayor urges police to release video, apologizes for 'mistakes' Posted: 03 Nov 2013 03:18 PM PST  By Jeffrey Hodgson TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Sunday urged his police chief to release a video that media reports say show him smoking what appears to be crack cocaine and issued a broad apology for mistakes in his past, including public drunkenness. But Ford, who previously said he does not use crack, said he could not discuss the content of the video until he had seen it. "Whatever this video shows ... Toronto residents deserve to see it, and people need to judge for themselves what they see on this video," Ford said on his weekly radio show.
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| Toronto mayor apologizes, won't step down Posted: 03 Nov 2013 04:10 PM PST  TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford apologized Sunday for being "hammered" in public and acknowledged the need to curb his drinking, but the mayor of Canada's largest city didn't address allegations of drug use and said he will remain in his job despite mounting pressure to resign.
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| Film on Mandela's life premieres in South Africa Posted: 03 Nov 2013 04:08 PM PST  A long-awaited film on the life of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela premiered in his native South Africa on Sunday, stirring emotional memories of the country's turbulent history. The movie "Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom", largely based on his autobiography of the same title, traces the life of the revered leader from his childhood in the rural Eastern Cape to his election as the country's first black president in 1994. The 95-year-old Mandela was too frail to attend the premiere as he is under medical care at home after having spent three months in hospital in a critical condition with a lung infection earlier this year. His ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said in remarks before the screening that she had "no words" to describe the film's "translation of that painful past".
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| US-Colombian op nets huge cocaine haul in Caribbean Posted: 03 Nov 2013 03:29 PM PST  US and Colombian anti-drugs agents cooperated in a massive bust in the southern Caribbean that led to the confiscation of 1,450 kilos of cocaine, authorities said Sunday. Police in Colombia said they tipped off their American counterparts that a "go-fast" boat suspected of carrying the drugs, allegedly belonging to the Los Urabenos gang, had departed from the town of Manaure, in Guajira. "After we shared the info with the US DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) they alerted the US Navy which intercepted the (Colombian) boat in international waters," the statement added.
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| Mummified remains of Italy 'holy woman' spook investigators Posted: 03 Nov 2013 03:17 PM PST  The discovery in northern Italy of the mummified remains of a woman who locals believed had supernatural powers has spooked investigators who believe she may have been embalmed, reports said Sunday. Graziella Giraudo, nicknamed the "holy woman" by those who queued up to have her read their fortunes, was found sitting in a locked room, one hand in her lap and the other raised as if in benediction. It's like a horror film," mayor Gian Paolo Beretta told Il Messaggero daily. Who and how is unclear," coroner Mario Abrate told the local Quotidiano Piemontese.
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| Nigeria: Suspected militants attack wedding convoy Posted: 03 Nov 2013 03:14 PM PST YOLA, Nigeria (AP) — Suspected Islamic militants attacked a wedding convoy in northeast Nigeria over the weekend, the latest in a storm of violence in the region as government troops battle religious extremists bent on turning Africa's most populous nation into an Islamic state. Authorities on Sunday gave conflicting accounts of the death toll, however — ranging from five to as many as 30, including the groom. |
| China reform checklist: How to tell that this time it's for real? Posted: 03 Nov 2013 03:08 PM PST  By Tomasz Janowski TOKYO (Reuters) - The message from Beijing could not be clearer: China needs to shift to a more balanced economy that is socially and environmentally sustainable. That was the conclusion of a key Communist Party meeting a decade ago, yet what followed was more of the same: rapid investment-led expansion, which turned China into the world's no.2 economy, but left it laden with debt, environmental damage and excess capacity. Fast forward to 2013 and China's new leadership is again promising more harmonious development and the question is how to tell whether, this time, it is for real. One encouraging sign suggesting that President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and their team mean business is their greater tolerance for slower economic growth while they carry out reforms.
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| World Bank urges better cookstoves in developing states to curb deaths Posted: 03 Nov 2013 03:04 PM PST  By Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - (Release at 2301 GMT, Sunday Nov 3) Simple measures to reduce pollution from cooking stoves in developing nations could save a million lives a year and help slow global warming, a World Bank study showed on Monday. The study called for tough limits on pollution from methane and soot, which can settle on snow and ice and hasten a thaw by darkening the surface, in everything from cooking and heating to mining and flaring by the oil and gas industry. "The damage from indoor cooking smoke alone is horrendous - every year, four million people die from exposure to the smoke," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement of the study "on Thin Ice: How Cutting Pollution can Slow Warming and Save Lives." Many people in developing nations cook on open fires with wood or coal, exposing people - mainly women and children - to fumes that cause everything from respiratory problems to heart disease. "If more clean cook-stoves - stoves that use less or cleaner fuel - would be used it could save one million lives," the report said of the annual benefits.
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| Gunmen kill two Egyptian police ahead of Morsi trial Posted: 03 Nov 2013 02:51 PM PST  Gunmen killed two Egyptian policemen Sunday near Ismailia on the west bank of the Suez Canal, security sources said, hours before ousted president Mohamed Morsi was to go on trial. Since the army deposed and arrested Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, on July 3, near daily attacks have claimed dozens of lives among police and soldiers across the country. Armed Islamist groups, some linked to Al-Qaeda, have claimed most of the unrest, which they say is in response to a bloody crackdown against Morsi supporters in which more than 1,000 people have been killed. Morsi's backers accuse the government of fabricating the charges against him and have called for anti-military protests, raising fears of new clashes.
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| Newsmaker: Egypt's Mursi faces trial after short taste of power Posted: 03 Nov 2013 02:14 PM PST By Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - When Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Mursi broke out of an Egyptian jail during Hosni Mubarak's final days in office in 2011, he little thought he would end up behind bars again. After decades of repression under Egyptian autocrats, the Muslim Brotherhood won every election since a popular uprising toppled Mubarak in 2011, eventually propelling Mursi to power. Mursi promised a moderate Islamist agenda to steer Egypt into a new democratic era where autocracy would be replaced by transparent government that respected human rights and revived the fortunes of a powerful Arab state long in decline. The stocky, bespectacled Mursi told Egyptians he would deliver an "Egyptian renaissance with an Islamic foundation". |
| Iran sticks to 'Death to America’ on embassy takeover day Posted: 03 Nov 2013 02:14 PM PST  Iran on Monday marks the anniversary of the 1979 US embassy takeover with its customary "Death to America" chants despite a taboo-breaking telephone call between their presidents. Islamist students stormed the embassy compound in Tehran 34 years ago, holding 52 US diplomats hostage for 444 days, rupturing diplomatic relations and provoking decades of mutual hostility. Iran marks the takeover anniversary in a state-organised ceremony each year. Hardline organisations, including the Basij militia, have called for a massive turnout this year in response to new President Hassan Rouhani's overtures towards Washington.
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| Kosovo: Local elections test relations with Serbia Posted: 03 Nov 2013 02:09 PM PST  PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Hard-line Serbs in northern Kosovo intimidated would-be voters and were suspected of attacking a polling station during local elections Sunday. The actions underscored Kosovo's strained relations with Serbia, even as both states seek closer ties to the European Union.
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| Syria becoming 'Mediterranean Afghanistan': Turkey president Posted: 03 Nov 2013 02:05 PM PST  Syria could become a "Mediterranean Afghanistan" if the international community does not act to end its civil war, Turkish president Abdullah Gul warned in an interview published by the Guardian on Sunday. He argued that many of the war's casualties could have been avoided if the outside world had reacted strongly to President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown against rebel forces, which he warned were now in danger of becoming radicalised. "But let me also say that this is not a bilateral issue between Turkey and Syria," he added in comments published on the Guardian's website. "We did not have any conflict with Syria, but when... there was massacring of the people of Syria, then it became a matter for mankind, for us all."
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| Tropical Storm Sonia heads toward Mexico's coast Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:59 PM PST  A new tropical storm is expected to make landfall Sunday or Monday in Mexico, already reeling from this year's hurricane season. Fast-moving Sonia, spinning in the Pacific Ocean some 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Baja California's tip, will pass below the peninsula later today and approach mainland Mexico, according to the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center. A tropical storm warning was in effect for a stretch of the coast reaching from Altata to Mazatlan, in Sinaloa state. Sonia was moving at 20 kilometers per hour with maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour.
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| Arab League to press Syria opposition over peace talks Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:53 PM PST  Arab League foreign ministers gathered in Cairo on Sunday to push the Syrian opposition to attend the proposed Geneva II peace conference. Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said in comments broadcast live on Egyptian state television that the extraordinary meeting of the ministers aimed to "encourage" the Syrian opposition to attend the Geneva II talks, which are backed by the United States and Russia. Syria's opposition has refused to attend unless President Bashar al-Assad's resignation is on the table -- a demand rejected by Damascus. Some rebel groups fighting the Syrian regime have also warned that participants would be considered traitors.
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| Toronto mayor says sorry but won't step down Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:48 PM PST  Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford apologized Sunday for making "mistakes" but declined to admit he smoked crack cocaine as allegedly shown in a video, brazenly vowing to stay in office. Although he apologized to his family, Toronto taxpayers and his colleagues, Ford did not specify what it was that he was sorry about. "Chief, I'm asking you to release this video now," Ford said on his weekly radio show, "The City" on privately-run Newstalk 1010, referring to Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair. "Whatever this video shows... Toronto residents deserve to see it, and people need to judge for themselves what they see on this video."
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| Bahrain accuses Shiite opposition head of insulting ministry Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:43 PM PST  Bahrain's public prosecution on Sunday accused Ali Salman, head of the main Shiite opposition bloc Al-Wefaq, of allegedly insulting the interior ministry, the official BNA news agency reported. Police summoned Salman for questioning on Saturday after Al-Wefaq opened a "Revolution Museum" on October 28 in a Shiite village near Manama. Exhibits represented the security forces' crackdown on a Shiite-led protest movement demanding a constitutional monarchy for the Sunni-ruled state that began in February 2011. Salman was summoned "over accusations he had insulted an official body, the interior ministry," government spokeswoman Samira Rajab said in a statement published by BNA.
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| Gazans seek bodies of two killed in tunnel clash with Israel Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:40 PM PST  Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - The bodies of two Hamas militants killed when Israeli troops attacked a border tunnel, burying them inside, were still missing three days after the fighting, Gaza authorities said Sunday. Four commanders of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules Gaza, were killed late Thursday in clashes sparked by an Israeli raid to destroy a Hamas tunnel from the strip into Israel. The search for the remaining two bodies will resume after daybreak on Monday, Palestinian officials said.
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| Egypt military court gives journalist suspended jail term Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:35 PM PST  An Egyptian military court on Sunday handed a journalist a six-month suspended jail term for taking pictures of army checkpoints on the border with Gaza, military sources said. Mohammed Sabry is the third Egyptian journalist to be sentenced by military tribunals since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July. Sabry was convicted by a military court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya, almost a month after the same court gave a similar sentence to another Egyptian journalist, Ahmed Abu Derra. Sabry is a freelance journalist working for several Egyptian publications.
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| Morsi trial 'test' for Egyptian authorities Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:31 PM PST  The trial of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi is a "test" for Egypt's new military-installed authorities who are engaged in a deadly crackdown on his supporters, Amnesty International said Sunday. Morsi, toppled by the army on July 3 following mass street protests against his one-year rule, will stand trial on Monday charged with inciting the murder of protesters outside his presidential palace in December 2012. "Tomorrow's trial is a test for the Egyptian authorities. They should present Mohamed Morsi in court and grant him a fair trial, including the right to challenge the evidence against him in court," Amnesty's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in a statement.
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| Hungarians protest against unveiling of Hitler-ally statue Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:30 PM PST  Far-right and anti-fascist demonstrators staged rival rallies Sunday outside a Budapest church where a bust of a Hungarian wartime leader was unveiled, the latest tribute to a man who was a close ally of Adolf Hitler. Around 500 protesters wearing yellow stars -- a reference to the Stars of David Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis -- chanted "Nazi mob!" across a police line at supporters of Miklos Horthy. An autocrat who ruled Hungary from 1920 to 1944, Horthy passed anti-Jewish laws and oversaw the first wave of deportations of Hungarian Jews in 1944. But he is also revered by some for saving Hungary after a short-lived communist revolution in 1919 and traumatic losses of territory following World War I.
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| Syria rebel leader in Aleppo quits Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:25 PM PST  The rebel leader who led a massive July 2012 assault on Aleppo resigned Sunday, accusing both Syria "warlords" and the international community of "conspiring" against the people. "Because of some people's refusal to heed calls for unity... I announce my resignation from the leadership of the Revolutionary Military Council in Aleppo," Colonel Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi said in a video statement. Activists and rebels have long blamed internal disputes and the international community's failure to supply the opposition with advanced weaponry for the sustained stalemate, which has resulted in the destruction of much of the city. In his statement, Okaidi pointed to the rebel loss on Friday of Sfeira, southeast of the city, and said the "blessed revolution" against President Bashar al-Assad "has torn off the last mask on the face of the international community", which is "conspiring against this people and against this revolution."
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| Kerry aims to bridge gaps with Saudis Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:22 PM PST  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry moved Sunday to reassure America's Arab friends that the United States will not allow them to be attacked "from outside," in an apparent warning to Iran.
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| Japanese grant to help Jordan cope with Syria refugees Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:18 PM PST  Japan granted Jordan on Sunday one billion yen ($10.1 million, 7.1 million euros) to minimise the impact of hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees from the war in neighbouring Syria. "The grant seeks to ease the burdens that Jordan shoulders in hosting the Syrian refugees," the planning ministry said in a statement. "It comes as Jordan faces economic and social challenges due to the policial situation in the region," it quoted Planning Minister Ibrahim Saif as saying. Jordan has repeatedly called for more international aid to help it deal with the flood of refugees.
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| Rabat envoy to resume Algiers work after Sahara spat Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:17 PM PST  Morocco's ambassador to Algiers is to resume work on Monday, after having been recalled in a spat over disputed Western Sahara, a senior Moroccan official said. "The ambassador has arrived in Algeria and he will resume his duties tomorrow (Monday)," the official told AFP on Sunday, asking not to be named. He stressed the envoy had only been recalled for consultations and not withdrawn, adding that Morocco "will always take measures against those who try to touch its territorial integrity." But the official denied that Morocco had made an "apology" over the incident.
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| Kerry vows US backing for Egypt interim rulers Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:16 PM PST  Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said Washington was committed to working with Egypt's interim rulers, but urged them to press ahead with reforms on his first visit to Cairo since the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi. On the eve of the opening of Morsi's trial, Kerry sought to restore ties with a key regional ally which have been strained since Washington partly suspended aid to Egypt amid concern over slow progress in restoring democracy. "We are committed to work with and we will continue our cooperation with the interim government," Kerry told a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy after their talks, stressing that ensuring stability was the key to revitalising Egypt's economic growth.
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| In China's Xinjiang, poverty, exclusion are greater threat than Islam Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:16 PM PST  By Michael Martina URUMQI, China (Reuters) - In the dirty backstreets of the Uighur old quarter of Xinjiang's capital Urumqi in China's far west, Abuduwahapu frowns when asked what he thinks is the root cause of the region's festering problem with violence and unrest. So they don't really understand each other," he said, referring to the Muslim religion the Turkic-speaking Uighur people follow, in contrast to the official atheism of the ruling Communist Party. But for the teenage bread delivery boy, it's not Islam that's driving people to commit acts of violence, such as last week's deadly car crash in Beijing's Tiananmen Square - blamed by the government on Uighur Islamist extremists who want independence. Mostly, those who support it are unsatisfied because they are poor," said Abuduwahapu, who came to Urumqi two years ago from the heavily Uighur old Silk Road city of Kashgar in Xinjiang's southwest, near the Pakistani and Afghan border.
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| Five killed daily in clashes with police in Brazil Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:12 PM PST  Five people were killed on average daily in clashes with police in Brazil last year, according to a survey cited by the daily O Globo Sunday. The report from the Brazilian Forum on Public Security found that 1,890 people in 23 Brazilian states were killed in such circumstances in 2012, including 1,322 just in the states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. This compares with the deaths of 89 civilian and military police in the line of duty nationwide during the same period, or one police officer for every 21 civilians killed in police clashes, it noted. "In the United States, with a population 60 percent bigger than that of Brazil, 410 people were killed in a confrontation with police in 2012," according to the report.
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| Syrian: Foreign jihadis said responsible for polio Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:11 PM PST DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A Syrian government minister said Sunday that foreign fighters who have come to the country to wage jihad are responsible for the outbreak of polio in the rebel-controlled north. |
| Less sin, more Shrek in Macau as China takes aim in corruption fight Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:05 PM PST  Xie Xiaoqing, chairman of Rongzhong Group, was sued in January for failing to repay the money to Sands China Ltd, U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson's Macau gambling unit. For many years, politically linked tycoons and government officials were frequently spotted betting millions in the southern Chinese city's lavish VIP rooms. But their numbers have dwindled because of an anti-corruption campaign led by China's new leader Xi Jinping. Just a few years ago, that might have devastated Macau, which typically generated 70 percent of its revenues from high rollers including wealthy government officials.
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| Egypt changes venue for trial of ousted president Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:03 PM PST  CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian authorities on Sunday moved the trial of the ousted Islamist president to a new location at another end of the capital, a move apparently aimed at thwarting mass rallies planned by the Muslim Brotherhood in his support when it opens on Monday.
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