| Second suicide bomber in Russia's Volgograd kills 14 on bus Posted: 30 Dec 2013 12:06 PM PST By Maria Tsvetkova VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) - A bomb ripped a bus apart in Volgograd on Monday, killing 14 people in the second deadly attack blamed on suicide bombers in the southern Russian city in 24 hours and raising fears of Islamist attacks on the Winter Olympics. President Vladimir Putin, who has staked his prestige on February's Sochi Games and dismissed threats from Chechen and other Islamist militants in the nearby North Caucasus, ordered tighter security nationwide after the morning rush-hour blast. The previous day's similar attack killed at least 17 in the main rail station of a city that serves as a gateway to the southern wedge of Russian territory bounded by the Black and Caspian Seas and the Caucasus mountains. Windows in nearby apartments were blown out by the blast, which Russia's foreign ministry condemned as part of a global terrorist campaign. |
| Egypt likely to change roadmap, hold presidential vote first: sources Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:20 PM PST  By Asma Alsharif and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's government is likely to call a presidential election before parliamentary polls, officials said on Monday, rearranging the political timetable in a way that could see army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi elected head of state by April. Parliamentary elections were supposed to happen first under the roadmap unveiled after the army deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July after mass protests against his rule. But critics have campaigned for a change, saying the country needs an elected leader to direct government at a time of economic and political crisis and to forge a political alliance before a potentially divisive parliamentary election. Were that Sisi, who is widely tipped to win the vote, it would restore the army's sway over a post controlled by military men until Mursi was propelled to office last year by the Muslim Brotherhood.
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| Fighting erupts as Iraq police break up Sunni protest camp Posted: 30 Dec 2013 11:26 AM PST  By Kamal Namaa RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - Fighting erupted when Iraqi police broke up a Sunni Muslim protest camp in the western Anbar province on Monday, leaving at least 13 people dead, police and medical sources said. The camp has been an irritant to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite Muslim-led government since Sunni protesters set it up a year ago to demonstrate against what they see as marginalization of their sect. The operation triggered an immediate political backlash as dozens of Sunni lawmakers offered their resignations. Maliki, who is seeking a third term in April's elections, has repeatedly vowed to remove the camp and accused protesters of stirring strife and sheltering al Qaeda-linked militants.
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| Four killed in Christian-Muslim clashes in Central African Republic's capital Posted: 30 Dec 2013 10:56 AM PST By Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI (Reuters) - Heavy weapons fire rang out in the north of Central African Republic's capital Bangui on Monday during inter-religious clashes and the Red Cross said at least four people were killed. French and African troops have struggled to contain violence between Muslim Seleka rebels and Christian militias that has already killed 1,000 people this month and displaced hundreds of thousands. "There was heavy weapons fire north of Bangui for a few hours and several neighborhoods were affected," Amy Martin, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangui told Reuters. Heavy arms fire was reported in Bangui during a two-day surge in violence which began on December 5 but shooting in recent days has been limited to sporadic small arms fire. |
| British lawmakers to visit Iran to help rebuild ties Posted: 30 Dec 2013 08:54 AM PST  British parliamentarians are to visit Iran next week to try to organize a reciprocal visit by Iranian lawmakers, the latest step aimed at improving relations between the two countries. Britain severed direct diplomatic relations with Iran after activists stormed its embassy in Tehran more than two years ago. However, the election of a relative moderate, President Hassan Rouhani, has paved the way for a thaw in ties which has helped Tehran strike a preliminary agreement about its nuclear program with six world powers, including Britain. Britain appointed a non-resident charge d'affaires to Iran in November, reviving direct ties, a step mirrored by Tehran.
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| Uganda says region ready to take on, defeat South Sudan rebel leader Posted: 30 Dec 2013 02:01 PM PST  By Aaron Maasho and Carl Odera JUBA (Reuters) - Uganda's president said on Monday the nations of East Africa had agreed to move in to defeat South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar if he rejected a ceasefire offer, threatening to turn an outburst of ethnic fighting into a regional conflict. Hours after President Yoweri Museveni's ultimatum, rebels and the feared "White Army" militia clashed against government troops just outside Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, officials said. "We gave Riek Machar four days to respond (to the ceasefire offer) and if he doesn't we shall have to go for him, all of us," Museveni told reporters in South Sudan's capital, Juba, referring to a December 31 deadline. He did not spell out whether South Sudan's neighbors had actually agreed to send troops to join the conflict that erupted in Juba on December 15.
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| NY City greenhouse gas emissions drop 19 pct since 2005 Posted: 30 Dec 2013 03:56 PM PST  New York City's greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 19 percent since 2005, outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday, putting the city nearly two-thirds of the way to meeting the goal that Bloomberg set five years ago. Bloomberg announced the progress report as he prepares to leave the mayor's office on Wednesday after 12 years in office. In the comprehensive climate change blueprint he launched in 2007, called PlaNYC 2030, Bloomberg set a goal to slash citywide emissions 30 percent by 2030 through a number of initiatives, such as requiring hybrid taxi cabs and retrofitting municipal buildings to make them more energy efficient. Sergej Mahnovski, director of the city's office of long-term planning and sustainability, said on Monday that New York's air is the cleanest it has been in 50 years and that the city is on track to make even deeper emissions cuts.
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| Australia cyclone heads inland after battering iron ore ports Posted: 30 Dec 2013 03:26 PM PST  Australia's Pilbara iron ore shipping and mining region, the world's largest, faced cyclonic winds and torrential rains on Tuesday after a cyclone made landfall after intensifying over the last few days in the Indian Ocean. The key shipping ports of Dampier, Cape Lambert and Port Hedland bore the brunt of the storm after clearing dozens of iron ore freighters and evacuating staff over the weekend. Cyclone Christine, the second to batter Western Australia in the November 1-April 30 cyclone season, forced mining companies Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals to suspend loading until emergency authorities sound the all-clear, expected over the next day or two.
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| Congo's army repels attacks in Kinshasa, dozens killed Posted: 30 Dec 2013 03:18 PM PST  By Bienvenu Bakumanya KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congolese troops killed dozens of armed youths who attacked the airport, a military barracks and state television headquarters in the capital Kinshasa on Monday in incidents claimed by a disgruntled religious leader. Before transmission was shut down at state television, the attackers shouted slogans in favor of pastor Paul Joseph Mukungubila and against President Joseph Kabila. Several corpses lay on the rain-soaked ground outside the brightly painted gates of the state television center after the attack, a Reuters witness said. The broadcaster reported that security forces had killed 46 of the attackers, while government officials said about 20 more had been arrested.
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| Record crowd expected for NHL Wings-Leafs outdoor game Posted: 30 Dec 2013 02:58 PM PST  A record crowd of more than 106,000 people is expected for Wednesday's National Hockey League Winter Classic matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings at Michigan Stadium. Two of the NHL's oldest teams were slated to meet on New Year's Day 2013 in the annual outdoor contest but that event was called off because of a money dispute between NHL club owners and players that shortened last season. The highest recorded attendance in ice hockey history was the outdoor game staged at the same stadium on December 11, 2010 when 104,173 people watched Michigan beat collegiate rival Michigan State 5-0 in what was dubbed "The Big Chill at the Big House." The largest attendance for an NHL game was 71,217 at the home stadium of the NFL's Buffalo Bills for the 2008 Winter Classic when Pittsburgh beat Buffalo 2-1.
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| DR Congo security forces repel attacks, kill at least 70 Posted: 30 Dec 2013 02:38 PM PST  Congolese security forces repelled a wave of coordinated attacks in the capital Kinshasa and other cities on Monday, in fierce gun battles that left more than 70 assailants and three troops dead, the government said. Armed youths believed to be loyal to a pastor who challenged President Joseph Kabila in elections seven years ago stormed the state television station, the international airport and the military headquarters. A government spokesman said more than 70 attackers had been killed, 52 of them in Kinshasa, while three troops had died in the fighting in the capital. Government spokesman Lambert Mende said on state television that "39 terrorists were captured, including two wounded who were given medical treatment" and that nine civilians were also injured.
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| Journalist deaths rise to 70 in 2013 Posted: 30 Dec 2013 02:29 PM PST  The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) updated its toll less than two weeks after reporting that 52 journalists had died on the job. Syria was the deadliest assignment, resulting in 28 deaths this year, CPJ said. The toll is based on what CPJ calls "a rigorous research process" to verify whether journalists were killed as a direct result of their work. But CPJ is still investigating the 2013 deaths of 25 more journalists to establish whether they were work-related.
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| Egypt prosecutors interrogate Jazeera team Posted: 30 Dec 2013 02:24 PM PST  CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian state security prosecutors interrogated a team of journalists working for Al-Jazeera's English channel Monday a day after they were arrested in Cairo, a security official said Monday.
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| China says Abe not welcome after war shrine visit Posted: 30 Dec 2013 02:17 PM PST  BEIJING (AP) — China on Monday accused Japan's prime minister of hypocrisy and said he would not be welcome in China after he visited a shrine honoring Japan's war dead, the latest sign of worsening ties between the two nations.
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| China says police kill 8 'terrorists' in Xinjiang Posted: 30 Dec 2013 02:07 PM PST BEIJING (AP) — Authorities in western China said Monday that police fatally shot eight "terrorists" who had attacked them using knives and explosives in the latest in a string of violent incidents in the ethnically tense region. |
| Two Libya oilfields resume production Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:59 PM PST  Production at two oilfields in southern Libya has restarted after it was suspended for several months, a national oil company official said on Monday. Mohamed al-Harairi of Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) told AFP the Sarir and Msala oilfields had "resumed production on Sunday". Electricity production in the North African nation has been affected since July when armed protesters demanding regional autonomy blockaded the main oil facilities in the east. The NOC spokesman said the Al-Hariga export terminal in eastern Libya, which has been closed for several months due to protests by local people, would reopen soon after negotiations with protesters.
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| Ships return to dock as Syria chemical deadline missed Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:36 PM PST  Disarmament teams returned Scandinavian escort vessels to port Monday as they accepted an end-of-year deadline for the removal of Syrian chemical weapons could no longer be met, a Norwegian spokesman said. Norwegian frigate HNoMS Helge Ingstad was ordered back to port in the nearby island of Cyprus along with a Danish warship that had been deployed to escort the dangerous cargo to destruction under international supervision, spokesman Lars Hovtun said. "We are still on high alert to go into Syria," Hovtun said. The international disarmament mission in Syria had acknowledged on Saturday that it was "unlikely" the weapons could be transported to the Syrian port of Latakia in time for the December 31 deadline set for the removal of key weapons components.
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| Man charged in Britain over North Sea ferry fire Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:33 PM PST  A man was charged on Monday with causing a fire onboard a ferry carrying more than 1,000 people from Newcastle to Amsterdam, British police said. Boden George Hughes, 26, was charged with "arson reckless to endangering life" and affray after the fire late Saturday in a cabin of the DFDS ferry MS King Seaways in the North Sea. Two Royal Air Force (RAF) search and rescue helicopters and two lifeboats were scrambled and seven people had to be airlifted to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. Hughes, from Sunderland near Newcastle, will appear in court on Tuesday to be formally charged, Northumbria Police said.
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| U.S. concerned about threats to Sochi Olympics, offers help Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:32 PM PST By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is concerned Islamist militants may be preparing attacks aimed at disrupting the Winter Olympic games in Sochi in February and is offering closer cooperation on security with Russia despite strains earlier this year. Two bombings in the Russian city of Volgograd in the past two days - one at the city's central railway station and another on a bus - killed dozens of people and raised anxieties about the safety of the Olympics. One militant group issued explicit direct threats to disrupt the Olympics, a State Department official said. Other officials said that regions near Sochi were among the areas of Russia currently most prone to Islamic militancy and other unrest. |
| 'Core' Al-Qaeda not behind Benghazi attack: US Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:23 PM PST  The United States is still investigating last year's attack on its diplomatic mission in Benghazi but has no evidence that "core Al-Qaeda" leaders directed the assault in which four Americans died, a US official said Monday. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, however, that some of the militants who carried out the deadly operation on September 11, 2012 may "have taken inspiration from Al-Qaeda ideology." She was speaking after the New York Times published a lengthy investigation which found no evidence that the Al-Qaeda network had direct involvement in the attack, in which ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed. Militants stormed the mission in Benghazi, eastern Libya, before later attacking a nearby CIA annex.
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| Privacy advocate exposes NSA spy gear at gathering Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:20 PM PST LONDON (AP) — A well-known privacy advocate has given the public an unusually explicit peek into the intelligence world's tool box, pulling back the curtain on the National Security Agency's arsenal of high-tech spy gear. |
| US eyeing Olympic security after Russia attacks Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:17 PM PST HONOLULU (AP) — The White House says the United States would welcome "closer cooperation" with Russia on security preparations for the Winter Olympics following a pair of deadly attacks that sparked fears about the terrorism threat at the February Games. |
| Italian distributor apologizes for "Slave" posters Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:17 PM PST MILAN (AP) — The Italian distributor of the film "12 Years a Slave" has apologized for promotional posters attacked as racist for featuring Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender, despite their relatively minor roles, and not the film's star, Chiwetel Ejiofor. |
| Wilkins appointed Fulham assistant head coach Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:14 PM PST  Ray Wilkins has been appointed as the new assistant head coach of Premier League strugglers Fulham, the club announced on Monday. The 57-year-old returns for a second stint at Craven Cottage having managed the then-Second Division club between 1997 and 1998 before being replaced by Kevin Keegan. Rene Meulensteen, who replaced Martin Jol as manager on December 1, welcomed the arrival of Wilkins, a player-manager of QPR between 1994 and 1996 and later assistant manager at both Millwall and Chelsea. "I am delighted that the chairman and the CEO have, again, backed my desire for further experience and support within the backroom staff," Dutchman Meulensteen said.
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| Doctors give no prognosis for Michael Schumacher Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:13 PM PST  GRENOBLE, France (AP) — Doctors offered a grim assessment of Michael Schumacher's head injuries Monday, providing no prognosis for the Formula One driving great after his skiing accident in the French Alps.
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| How South Sudan’s Leaders Let Down the World’s Newest Nation Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:11 PM PST When I first landed in Juba in the blazing hot October of 2011, all I could see was the roads. Or, I should say, all I could see was that there weren't any. With the exception of a few paved arteries, the dusty capital of South Sudan was a patchwork of deeply pitted, stomach-churning dirt paths, and the rest of the infrastructure wasn't much better. Many residents used untreated water from the White Nile. As for the electricity, there was none. Or not much, anyway. ... |
| Iraqi police dismantle Sunni protest in west Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:06 PM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi police took down tents and cleared a Sunni sit-in in a flashpoint western city after protesters there agreed to end their months-long demonstration following talks with the Shiite-led government, an official said Monday.
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| Russia bombings kill 31, raise concern on Olympics Posted: 30 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST  MOSCOW (AP) — Two suicide bombings in as many days have killed 31 people and raised concerns that Islamic militants have begun a terrorist campaign in Russia that could stretch into the Sochi Olympics in February. Russian and international Olympic officials insisted the site of the games, protected by layers of security, is completely safe.
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| Bombardier gets US $259 mn order for 10 business jets Posted: 30 Dec 2013 12:51 PM PST  Montreal (AFP) - Canadian plane maker Bombardier announced Monday it had received a firm order for 10 of its Challenger 350 business jets worth US $259 million from an undisclosed buyer.
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| Children beheaded in C.Africa fighting: UNICEF Posted: 30 Dec 2013 12:50 PM PST  Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - At least two children have been beheaded in the fighting which has gripped the Central African Republic, the UN agency for children said Monday, adding "unprecedented" levels of violence were being committed against youngsters. UNICEF said that of the two children beheaded, one had also been mutilated. "We are witnessing unprecedented levels of violence against children," said the UNICEF representative in Central Africa, Souleymasne Diabate. French and African troops are struggling to contain the unrest, which has wracked the majority Christian country since a March coup by mostly Muslim Seleka rebels who installed Michel Djotodia as president.
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| Lebanon army fires on Syria aircraft for 'first time' Posted: 30 Dec 2013 12:41 PM PST  Baalbek (Lebanon) (AFP) - The Lebanese army used its air defence systems against Syrian helicopters on Monday after they carried out a raid inside Lebanese territory, a military source told AFP. It was the first time the Lebanese army has responded to Syrian attacks on its territory, which have multiplied as the conflict in its eastern neighbour has intensified, the source said. "In accordance with the orders of the army command, anti-aircraft guns were fired in the direction of Syrian helicopters that bombed Khirbet Dawud near Arsal," in the area near the Syrian border, the source told AFP. "It is the first time that the Lebanese army has used its anti-aircraft defence systems" to respond to Syrian raids, the source added.
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| Israel court paves way for Palestinian prisoner release Posted: 30 Dec 2013 12:36 PM PST  Israel is set to release 26 Palestinian prisoners in the early hours of Tuesday as part of US-brokered peace talks, after a court rejected a last-minute appeal by victims' families. The prisoners were expected to be freed just after midnight, in the third stage of the release of 104 inmates that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu committed to let go when the peace talks were renewed in July. The move comes a day before US Secretary of State John Kerry is set to return to the region in a bid to boost the faltering negotiations. As with the two previous releases in August and October, each of 26 prisoners, bereaved Israeli families represented by the Almagor organisation petitioned Israel's High Court against the move.
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| Venezuela inflation data questioned by economists Posted: 30 Dec 2013 12:34 PM PST  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — For three weeks Venezuelan economists have complained that the central bank is delaying delivery of its inflation report to hide the government's poor record of containing prices. Its release on Friday only fueled those suspicions.
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| Bahrain says it seized Iranian, Syrian explosives Posted: 30 Dec 2013 12:25 PM PST  Bahraini authorities said Monday they have seized a boat smuggling explosives made in Iran and Syria into the Sunni-ruled kingdom, which quashed a Shiite-led uprising in 2011. The boat, which had two Bahrainis aboard, was stopped over the weekend at two nautical miles (3.7 kilometres) off the archipelago's coast, public security chief Major-General Tareq al-Hasan said. "Fifty hand grenades made in Iran," as well as "295 fuses connected to switches labelled as made in Syria," were found in the 29-foot (nine-metre) vessel, he said in a statement carried by state news agency BNA. Hasan said that security forces also discovered a cache of explosives in a village outside Manama, dismantled a car bomb and arrested 13 wanted people, including a Saudi national, as they attempted to flee Bahrain in a boat.
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| El Salvador volcano spews more ash, gases Posted: 30 Dec 2013 12:22 PM PST  By Hugo Sanchez SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - A volcano in eastern El Salvador belched more ash and gases on Monday after a big eruption on Sunday that drove more than 1,600 people into emergency shelters. The Chaparrastique volcano, which is about 140 km (87 miles) east of San Salvador, the capital, spewed ash over a wide area known for its coffee plantations on Sunday. "The Chaparrastique volcano is still producing gases combined with small emissions of ash, which is normal after an eruption," El Salvador's environment ministry said on its Twitter page. In all, 1,635 people are in seven temporary shelters, emergency services said.
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| Troops find six-tonne explosives cache in Mali: UN Posted: 30 Dec 2013 12:14 PM PST  French and Chadian troops have destroyed almost six tonnes of explosives and weapons found in Mali's rebel-infested desert north, the United Nations said on Monday. France launched Operation Serval in January to drive out Al-Qaeda-linked extremists who had occupied Mali's north in 2012 and imposed a brutal interpretation of Islamic sharia on the inhabitants of Timbuktu and the other main desert settlements. It is the second significant haul in three months, after French soldiers discovered and destroyed a vehicle containing nearly a tonne of explosives near the northeastern town of Anefis in September. Operation Serval has weakened the various Islamist groups who occupied the former French colony for nine months last year but they remain active and the ever-present threat was underlined when two Senegalese peacekeepers were killed in a suicide bombing earlier this month.
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| Uganda warns South Sudan rebel leader Posted: 30 Dec 2013 12:13 PM PST  JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Uganda's president on Monday warned South Sudan's rebel leader against rejecting the government's offer of a cease-fire, saying regional leaders would unite to "defeat" the former vice president who is accused of mounting a failed coup in the world's newest country.
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