| Ukraine leader seeks cash at Kremlin, Kiev protest planned Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:09 PM PST By Timothy Heritage and Katya Golubkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ukraine's president could secure loans from Russia on Tuesday when he meets Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin - money that could help fend off economic crisis as anti-government protests continue in Kiev. Demonstrators demanding that Viktor Yanukovich step down after he spurned a trade and investment deal with the European Union last month plan a new show of force in Ukraine's capital on Tuesday as the president meets his Russian counterpart. Caught between Western powers, keen to anchor the nation of 46 million in a friendly embrace on the EU's borders, and Moscow, which accuses the West of turning its former Soviet territories against it, Ukraine is in the grip of impending financial crisis that could hit fuel supplies this winter. President Putin, who meets Yanukovich at 3 p.m. (1100 GMT), seems set to agree a loan deal, and possibly offer Ukraine a discount on the Russian natural gas on which its people depend. |
| Gunshots ring out in South Sudan capital after 'attempted coup' Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:41 PM PST  By Carl Odera JUBA (Reuters) - Gunfire rang out again in South Sudan's capital Juba late on Monday hours after President Salva Kiir said his forces had quelled an "attempted coup" by supporters of his sacked deputy. Kiir earlier said fighters loyal to former vice president Riek Machar had attacked an army base into the early hours of Monday morning, but the military was in control. After the streets emptied, and thousands of locals took refuge in U.N. compounds in Juba, diplomats and a U.N. official reported hearing fresh shooting from around 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) in the city's Tomping neighborhood. Really urging everyone to stay indoors and stay safe," the U.S. embassy in Juba said on its Twitter feed.
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| Russian navy ready to escort Syrian chemical weapons: Lavrov Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:53 PM PST  Russia said on Monday its navy was ready to escort ships removing Syria's deadly chemical stockpile, which is due to be destroyed at sea under an international deal. Syria agreed to relinquish control of deadly toxins which can be used to make sarin, VX gas and other lethal agents in the agreement forged in the wake of an attack on the outskirts of Damascus which killed hundreds last August. "We will be ready to provide Russian navy ships to escort those vessels with toxic agents in order to provide the safety of this operation," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after meeting his EU counterparts in Brussels. Syria's 2-1/2-year civil war has killed at least 125,835 people, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and more than 2 million refugees have fled, often overwhelming neighboring countries.
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| China continues rights abuses even as labor camps ditched: Amnesty Posted: 16 Dec 2013 04:12 PM PST  China is increasingly using extra-judicial "black jails" and drug rehabilitation centers to punish people who would formerly have been sent to forced labor camps, rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday. China vowed last month to do away with hundreds of labor camps, as part of a landmark package of social and economic reforms. Official news agency Xinhua has said there are 350 such camps across the country, with up to 160,000 inmates. But many of those in extra-judicial jails and rehabilitation centers are being punished for their political or religious beliefs, the London-based rights group said.
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| Interpol joins hunt for Mexican drug lord sought by U.S Posted: 16 Dec 2013 04:13 PM PST By Lizbeth Diaz MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The search for a Mexican drug lord wanted for the murder of a U.S. federal agent expanded on Monday when Interpol issued a wanted persons alert for Rafael Caro Quintero, who disappeared in August. Caro Quintero was freed from the Puente Grande prison in the western Mexican state of Jalisco on August 9 after a Mexican court ruled he should have been tried at state level rather than on federal charges. His early release angered the U.S. government and the DEA said it was "deeply troubled." Three months later in November the Mexican Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision and prosecutors issued a warrant for the drug lord's arrest. The U.S. State Department is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to Caro Quintero's capture. |
| Brazil opposition settling on presidential candidate as rival bows out Posted: 16 Dec 2013 04:17 PM PST  Brazil's main opposition party moved closer to selecting a presidential nominee on Monday, after its candidate in the last election backed Senator Aecio Neves, former governor of Minas Gerais, the country's second-most populous state. Jose Serra, a two-time presidential runner-up who took 44 percent of votes in the 2010 race against President Dilma Rousseff, said on his official Facebook page that the center-right PSDB should not lose time in nominating Neves.
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| Israel, Lebanon move to ease tensions Posted: 16 Dec 2013 04:45 PM PST  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Lebanon on Monday rushed to ease tensions following a deadly border skirmish that left one Israeli soldier dead, with the enemy countries holding a face-to-face meeting with U.N. peacekeepers and pledging their commitment to a seven-year-old cease-fire.
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| South Sudan says coup defeated after heavy fighting Posted: 16 Dec 2013 04:43 PM PST  South Sudan's president announced Monday he had defeated a coup attempt following a night of fierce fighting between rival troops in the capital of the world's youngest nation. The United Nations said it was "deeply concerned" over the fighting, which sent hundreds of terrified civilians to a UN compound in search of refuge. President Salva Kiir blamed troops loyal to his arch-rival, former vice president Riek Machar, who was sacked from the government in July. "Your government is in full control of the security situation in Juba.
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| 'No credible evidence' Diana murdered Posted: 16 Dec 2013 04:37 PM PST  British police on Monday said they had finished examining new information about the 1997 death of Diana, princess of Wales, but had found "no credible evidence" she was murdered. Scotland Yard police headquarters announced in August it was checking the credibility of recently received information about the deaths of the princess and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, including an allegation that she was murdered by a British military figure. Diana and Fayed were killed in a car crash in a Paris underpass in the early hours of August 31, 1997, along with their driver, Henri Paul. It is understood that the claim a member of elite British army regiment the Special Air Service (SAS) was involved was made by the former parents-in-law of an ex-soldier, based on information he had talked about in the past.
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| N. Korea troops pledge loyalty en masse as Seoul on alert Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:40 PM PST  North Korean troops pledged Monday to defend leader Kim Jong-Un with their lives after his uncle was executed for an alleged plot, as South Korea put its forces on alert for any "reckless provocations". The mass rally in Pyongyang came ahead of Tuesday's second anniversary of the death of longtime leader Kim Jong-Il, whose sudden demise thrust his young son Jong-Un to the helm of the secretive state. Kim has apparently been trying to demonstrate his firm grip on power following the shock execution Thursday of his uncle Jang Song-Thaek. The deadly purge prompted both Seoul and Washington to warn that vigilance is needed against any surprises by the nuclear-armed regime.
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| US judge says NSA phone data snooping probably illegal Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:35 PM PST  A US judge struck a first blow against the National Security Agency's bulk collection of phone records Monday, ruling it breaches citizens' privacy to a degree that is probably unconstitutional. The ruling by the Washington District Court was stayed pending appeal, but if upheld it could lead to the spy agency being barred from indiscriminately gathering metadata on millions of private calls. While not a final judgement, the ruling put the administration on the back foot at the start of what will no doubt be a protracted series of legal challenges to the NSA's global surveillance network. And it was seized upon by fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden to support his case that he is a whistleblower exposing official overreach rather than a traitor endangering national security.
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| 1.9 million displaced in Sudan's Darfur: UN Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:20 PM PST  El Fasher (Sudan) (AFP) - Almost two million people are displaced in Darfur, the UN's top official in Sudan said on Monday, giving a new figure for the region where violence has worsened this year. "We estimate that the internally displaced people... are close to 1.9 million, and that there are 1.3 million non-IDP's who are severely affected and/or food insecure," Ali Al-Za'tari said in the capital of North Darfur state. "This makes the total number of Sudanese in need in Darfur more than 3.2 million." But as Sudan's humanitarian needs mount, particularly in Darfur, the United Nations has received just over half of the funding it requested, with world attention focused on other crises, Za'tari said.
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| Exclusive: Congo's army accused of abuse as rebels regroup in Rwanda - U.N. experts Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:19 PM PST Recently defeated M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have continued to recruit in neighboring Rwanda while the Congolese army has been involved in human rights abuses and corruption, according to a confidential U.N. report. "The Group has documented that M23 received continued support from Rwandan territory," the U.N. Group of Experts said in its final report to the U.N. Security Council's Congo sanctions committee, which was seen by Reuters on Monday. The independent expert panel also accused armed groups and the Congolese army of an array of human rights abuses - including the use of child soldiers, summary executions and sexual violence - and profiting from illegal mining operations in resource-rich eastern Congo. |
| Barca draw Man City in Champions League last 16 Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:18 PM PST  Spanish giants Barcelona were handed the toughest possible draw Monday when they were paired with Manchester City in the plum tie of the last 16 of the Champions League. Champions Bayern Munich were also given a hard draw as they plucked Arsenal for the second year in a row at this stage. Manchester United and Chelsea, both group winners, were given far more favourable draws against Olympiakos and Galatasaray respectively. In fairness to Arsenal and City, they did have the toughest possible groups facing one each of last season's finalists.
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| EU vows 'unprecedented' aid if Israel, Palestinians make peace Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:16 PM PST  The European Union on Monday pledged "unprecedented" levels of support to both Israel and the Palestinians should the two parties reach a final status agreement. Commending US Secretary of State John Kerry for his efforts in launching direct talks between the two, EU foreign ministers said the 28-nation bloc would "contribute substantially" to post-conflict arrangements to ensure the sustainability of a peace deal. "The EU will provide an unprecedented package of European political, economic and security support to both parties in the context of a final status agreement," the ministers said in a statement. "In the event of a final peace agreement the European Union will offer Israel and the future state of Palestine a Special Privileged Partnership including increased access to the European markets, closer cultural and scientific links, facilitation of trade and investments as well as promotion of business to business relations.
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| Africans march on Jerusalem after fleeing detention Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:15 PM PST  Lahav junction (Israel) (AFP) - Hundreds of African illegal immigrants on Monday began a protest march to Jerusalem after fleeing a detention centre in the south where they were being held, an AFP correspondent said. The group, all men, could be seen marching northwards along a highway near Lahav junction in southern Israel, holding up signs reading: "Recognise us as refugees" and "Holot (detention) facility is a prison," the correspondent said. A spokeswoman for Israel Prisons Service told AFP that 282 inmates who were being held at the Holot detention facility had not shown up for the evening lockdown on Sunday night. The sprawling detention facility opened its gates for the first time on Thursday with 484 illegal immigrants from Africa taken there, the IPS said.
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| Judge: NSA program is likely unconstitutional Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:12 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — In a ruling with potentially far-reaching consequences, a federal judge declared Monday that the National Security Agency's bulk collection of millions of Americans' telephone records likely violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on unreasonable search. The ruling, filled with blistering criticism of the Obama administration's arguments, is the first of its kind on the controversial program.
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| Bachelet has big win in Chile presidential vote Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:11 PM PST  SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — President-elect Michelle Bachelet vowed on Monday to initiate profound social changes in Chile, a day after winning the seat with the biggest victory in eight decades.
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| UN appeals for record aid to address Syria crisis Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:06 PM PST  The United Nations on Monday appealed for a record $12.9 billion in emergency aid, half of which is for victims of Syria's war, which is expected to generate another two million refugees next year. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 76 people died Sunday, among them 28 children, in the highest toll for air raids since the war started, while 10 others, including four children, were killed by the same weapons on Monday. The UN's humanitarian agency OCHA, which launched the appeal for emergency aid, said the funds are needed for 2014, when the number of Syrian refugees in the Middle East will nearly double to exceed four million. He described Syria's war and its regional impact as "the most dangerous crisis for global peace and security since World War II."
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| Fire bomb ignites in Belfast Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:02 PM PST  Christmas shoppers were evacuated from central Belfast on Monday after a fire bomb ignited in the Northern Ireland capital's Cornmarket district, police said. "Cornmarket in Belfast city centre has been closed by police following an incident at around 6.40pm this evening when a suspected incendiary device was left at a shop," said a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) spokesman. Alban Maginness from the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) slammed those responsible for Monday's attack. "It beggars belief that following the placing of a bomb in the Cathedral Quarter on Friday night that Belfast would be faced with yet another attempted act of wanton destruction," he said.
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| Contractor seeks to resume work at World Cup site Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:02 PM PST  SAO PAULO (AP) — The contractor at the World Cup stadium where a worker fell 115 feet (35 meters) to his death is trying to reverse a labor court ruling that halted work on part of the venue.
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| Libya blocks UN guard force plan Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:58 PM PST  Libya has blocked a UN plan to send more than 200 soldiers to the troubled country to guard UN staff, diplomats and officials said Monday. The United Nations leadership received backing from the UN Security Council last month to to send a 235-strong guard force because of the mounting threat of attack on the UN mission in Tripoli. Libya has been unsettled since the fall of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in late 2011. "It doesn't look possible that the proposal can now go ahead," Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters, adding that the UN secretariat was having a rethink.
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| U.N. seeks $6.5 billion for Syria crisis in 2014 Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:52 PM PST By Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed for a record $6.5 billion for Syria and its neighbors on Monday to help 16 million people, many of them hungry or homeless victims of a conflict that has lasted 33 months with no end in sight. The Syrian appeal accounted for half of an overall funding plan of $12.9 billion for 2014 to help 52 million people in 17 countries, announced by U.N. emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos at a meeting of donor countries in Geneva. The money requested for Syria, covering food, drinking water, shelter, education, health services and polio vaccines, was the largest U.N. appeal ever for a single crisis. Syria's currency has plummeted by 80 percent since the revolt began in March 2011, and destruction of the water network has left 10 million people - almost half the pre-war population - relying on the United Nations to chlorinate water. |
| Witness saw Iranians arrest missing US man Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:51 PM PST  A retired FBI agent who vanished six years ago in Iran, reportedly during a covert CIA operation, was arrested by authorities in the Islamic state, the last person to see him alive was quoted as saying on Monday. In an interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Iran-based American fugitive Dawud Salahuddin said Iranian agents had detained Robert Levinson during a meeting between the two men on the island of Kish in 2007. Salahuddin, a convert to Islam who has lived in Iran since carrying out a 1980 murder in the United States on behalf of the Tehran regime, said Levinson had been trying to recruit him as an informant before his arrest. Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denied all knowledge of Levinson's whereabouts on Sunday, insisting his fate was "a mystery" and that he was not incarcerated by Iranian authorities.
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| Mexican state legislatures pass energy reform bill Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (AP) — In a steam-roller operation that ended Monday, a majority of Mexico's state legislatures approved sweeping energy legislation that will allow private companies to explore for and produce oil and gas in the country.
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| Moscow: missiles in western Russia legitimate Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:18 PM PST  MOSCOW (AP) — Lithuania and Poland expressed concern on Monday about signals that Russia has deployed state-of-the-art missiles in a territory that borders the NATO countries.
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| Meet Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s Once and Future President Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:09 PM PST On the evening after her landslide victory in Chile's presidential election, Michelle Bachelet, the once and future leader of the country, stood before 10,000 cheering supporters and made a broad promise for her second term. "The moment has arrived," Bachelet said. "If I'm here it's because we believe that a Chile for everyone is necessary. Chile's constitution limits the president from running for successive terms, so in 2011, Bachelet stepped down after four years in power. But despite winning the presidential runoff in a landslide—Bachelet defeated conservative rival Evelyn Matthei 62 percent to 37 percent—things may not be so easy the second time around. |
| US scholars endorse academic boycott of Israel Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:02 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — The American Studies Association on Monday endorsed a boycott of Israeli universities, the largest group of U.S. scholars to do so. |
| Journalists hit by surge of attacks in Iraq's Mosul Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:01 PM PST  Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - The northern Iraqi city of Mosul has become a nightmare for journalists, with five killed since October with alleged impunity, pushing some to flee the area or even the country. Iraq has come in for repeated criticism over the lack of media freedom and the number of unsolved killings of journalists. But the series of attacks on journalists in Mosul, with the latest on Sunday, when gunmen shot dead TV presenter Nawras al-Nuaimi, is the worst to hit Iraq in years. "I had to change my place of residence in Mosul and remain at my (new) home without leaving, after the killings that affected a number of my colleagues," said journalist Salim Fadhel, 30.
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| EU offers 'unprecedented' aid to help Israeli-Palestinian talks Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:55 PM PST  The European Union promised Israel and the Palestinians better access to European markets and "unprecedented" political and economic aid as an incentive to push them into resolving their decades-old conflict. Shrugging off gloomy predictions of failure, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last week the Israelis and the Palestinians remained committed to peace talks and were on course to wrap up a deal by the end of April. To support a deal, the EU would offer closer cultural and scientific links and trade and investment support, EU foreign ministers said in a statement on Monday. "Current talks represent a unique opportunity which must be seized by both parties." The EU is already the biggest aid donor to the Palestinian authority and Israel's biggest economic partner, accounting for almost a third of its exports and imports.
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| At least 21, including a baby, killed in Congo's east Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:54 PM PST By Pete Jones KINSHASA (Reuters) - At least 21 people, including women and a baby, were killed over the weekend in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the U.N. peacekeeping mission there said on Monday. The U.N. mission did not say who it believed carried out the massacre but a local elected official blamed Ugandan Islamist rebels. Most of those killed appeared to have been hacked to death on Friday and Saturday in villages not far from Beni, in Congo's North Kivu province, according to a statement by Martin Kobler, head of the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission. The killings highlighted the challenges still facing Congo's army and U.N. forces attempting to pacify Congo's mineral-rich east, which has remained a lawless patchwork of rebel strongholds and militia fiefdoms for nearly two decades. |
| Zimbabwe customers storm bank after it runs out of cash Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:52 PM PST  Angry depositors forced their way into a banking hall and attacked a manager in the Zimbabwean capital on Monday after the bank ran out of cash, witnesses said. A witness, who refused to identify herself, said the depositors were waiting in a queue outside the bank in central Harare when a quarrel broke out with the manager at Allied Bank, one of several battling to pay out deposits. "The bank manager confronted a customer in the queue who shouted at the manager querying where their money had gone," the witness said. Allied Bank chief executive Stephen Gwasira apologised for the incident blaming it on "prevailing cash shortages" and said the bank was "making aggressive efforts to address the challenges".
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| Snowstorm unlikely to hurt U.S. holiday sales: analysts Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:51 PM PST  (Reuters) - The snowstorm that hit the U.S. Northeast and Midwest this past weekend is unlikely to hurt overall holiday sales, analysts say, even as the shorter shopping season makes every day crucial for retailers in the final sprint to Christmas. Although the cold weather hindered customers from visiting stores on Saturday, demand is expected to pick up later in the week, analysts said. "This past weekend, the Northeast was a mess with snow starting on Saturday and continuing into Sunday, perhaps encouraging shoppers to postpone shopping to the coming week, buy more online, or just wait for Super Saturday weekend," Topeka Capital Markets analyst Dorothy Lakner wrote in a note. Data firm ShopperTrak, which estimates sales volume based on shopper traffic, has projected that the three biggest shopping days for the holiday season will be this coming Friday through Sunday.
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| Christmas results could spark title bid says Suarez Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:46 PM PST  Liverpool striker Luis Suarez believes his side can mount a serious challenge for the Premier League title if they enjoy a successful Christmas campaign. Suarez was presented with the 2013 Player of the Year award at the Football Supporters' Federation Awards at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium on Monday, but the Uruguayan has more significant silverware in his sights. Suarez missed the first six matches of the season due to the ban he received in April for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic.
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| Keshi gives young star leave to seal move to Manchester City Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:30 PM PST  Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has allowed youngster Kelechi Iheanacho to quit a training camp in Abuja so as to finalise a move to English Premier League giants Manchester City. Keshi has approved the departure of the youngster from the training camp in Abuja. "I have told the young man to go and do the nation proud at whichever club he finally chooses to settle down with," said Keshi, who described the forward as a real talent.
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