| Special Report: Thailand secretly supplies Myanmar refugees to trafficking rings Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:50 PM PST  By Jason Szep and Andrew R.C. Marshall RANONG, Thailand (Reuters) - One afternoon in October, in the watery no-man's land between Thailand and Myanmar, Muhammad Ismail vanished. Thai immigration officials said he was being deported to Myanmar. In fact, they sold Ismail, 23, and hundreds of other Rohingya Muslims to human traffickers, who then spirited them into brutal jungle camps. As thousands of Rohingya flee Myanmar to escape religious persecution, a Reuters investigation in three countries has uncovered a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thailand's immigration detention centers and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea.
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| German minister snubs Ukraine leaders on Kiev visit Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:29 PM PST By Richard Balmforth and Thomas Grove KIEV (Reuters) - Germany's foreign minister met Ukrainian opposition leaders at their protest camp in Kiev on Wednesday, in a snub to President Viktor Yanukovich, who triggered mass street demonstrations by spurning a pact with the EU and seeking closer ties with Moscow. As pro-EU demonstrators packed the main square, the crisis took a further toll on Ukraine's fragile economy, with the central bank forced to support the currency and the cost of insuring the country's debt against default rising further. Tension was high in the capital as protesters confronted ranks of black-helmeted riot police in front of the main presidential offices and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov accused the opposition of trying to provoke violence. Ukrainian officials went to Moscow in search of aid to avoid a financial meltdown, while Yanukovich is in China, also seeking economic assistance. |
| Chemical experts eye port to load Syria toxins onto U.S. ship Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:17 PM PST  The United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog are awaiting approval from a country to use its port to load Syria's most deadly chemicals onto a U.S. ship for destruction offshore, the head of the mission said on Wednesday. Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Syria mission, briefed the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday but did not identify which country she had been in talks with. The OPCW said on Saturday the United States had started modifying a U.S. naval vessel to be able to destroy Syria's 500 tons of chemicals, including actual nerve agents - neutralizing them offshore with other chemicals in a process known as hydrolysis. Italy, Norway and Denmark have offered to transport Syria's chemicals from the northern Syrian port of Latakia with military escorts.
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| Thaksin's homecoming hopes dashed as Thai crisis reignites Posted: 04 Dec 2013 01:03 PM PST  By Martin Petty BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's political future is cloudier than ever, but one thing is for certain - self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra won't be coming home soon. The chances of another round of political conflict seemed slim a few months ago as the government of Thaksin's sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, entered its third year in office after a fairly smooth ride, much to do with outwardly cordial ties with her brother's enemies, among them generals, royal advisers and opposition politicians. Having fled into exile to avoid a jail sentence for graft in 2008, Thaksin had hoped the climate was ripe for him to try to return. Protesters have marched for weeks in Bangkok streets, clashing with riot police and vowing to overthrow the "Thaksin regime" and replace it with "good people", effectively suspending Thailand's democratic system.
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| Biden calls for trust with China amid airspace dispute Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:06 PM PST By Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, visiting China as a dispute over a new Chinese air defense zone rattles nerves around the region, said on Wednesday that relations between Washington and Beijing had to be based on trust. Beijing's decision to declare an air defense identification zone in an area that includes disputed islands has triggered protests from the United States, Japan and South Korea, and dominated Biden's talks in Tokyo on Tuesday. The United States has made clear it will stand by treaty obligations that require it to defend the Japanese-controlled islands, but it is also reluctant to get dragged into any military clash between rivals Japan and China. |
| Iran's ability to enrich uranium troubles U.S. lawmakers Posted: 04 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST  By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers in the House of Representatives said on Wednesday they are concerned about Iran's ability to continue enriching uranium under the interim agreement on Tehran's disputed nuclear program, an issue they are likely to press as global powers attempt to reach a final agreement. The concerns showed that House lawmakers could be willing to push for a new sanctions package next year that would define what Congress would be willing to accept in a final deal with Iran. The six-month interim deal made by the United States, five other world powers and Iran in Geneva last month gives International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors greater access to Iran's nuclear facilities and requires the Islamic Republic to halt its enrichment of higher grade uranium. But it allows Iran to continue enriching uranium up to 5 percent purity for generating nuclear power.
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| U.S. says may seek dismantling part of Arak reactor in final Iran deal Posted: 04 Dec 2013 05:01 PM PST A top U.S. diplomat suggested on Wednesday the United States may press Iran to agree to dismantle part of its Arak nuclear reactor in a comprehensive agreement to rein in Tehran's atomic program. Under an interim deal agreed between Iran and six world powers last month, Iran is to shelve fuel production for six months at Arak, an unfinished heavy-water research reactor which Western countries say Tehran could use to produce plutonium for atomic bombs. Iran says the reactor is for medical isotopes. A comprehensive agreement "includes a lot of dismantling of their infrastructure," Wendy Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, said on PBS Newshour, speaking about a final deal with Iran. |
| Stolen cobalt-60 found abandoned in Mexico Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:57 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (AP) — A missing shipment of radioactive cobalt-60 was found Wednesday near where the stolen truck transporting the material was abandoned in central Mexico state, the country's nuclear safety director said.
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| Court docs: Toronto mayor tried obtaining tape Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:54 PM PST  TORONTO (AP) — New court documents released Wednesday suggest Toronto Mayor Rob Ford may have offered $5,000 and a car to suspected drug dealers in exchange for a video that appears to show him smoking crack.
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| France adopts bill to penalise prostitutes' clients Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:53 PM PST  The draft anti-prostitution law was approved by the lower-house National Assembly with 268 deputies voting in favour, 138 voting against and 79 abstaining. It was sponsored by women's rights minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, who hailed Wednesday's vote as "the end of a long road strewn with pitfalls". "France has placed itself at the side of those who prostitute themselves, against those who take advantage of their vulnerability," campaign group the Mouvement du Nid said in a statement. Critics, who include some of France's most prominent celebrities, say the legislation will simply push prostitution further underground and make the women who earn their living from it more vulnerable to abuse.
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| Moyes bullish as United's title hopes fade Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:47 PM PST  Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Manchester United manager David Moyes maintains that his side can still win the Premier League despite slipping 12 points behind leaders Arsenal. The Old Trafford side suffered a fourth defeat of the season when they were stunned 1-0 at home by his former club Everton on Wednesday. United only lost five league games in the whole of last season, but even though Moyes accepts it will be a struggle, he insists his team should not be ruled out. Asked if he believed United were capable of that, he replied: "Yes.
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| Mexico finds stolen radioactive material amid dirty bomb fear Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:39 PM PST  By Fredrik Dahl and Ana Isabel Martinez VIENNA/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican police have found dangerous radioactive medical material stolen by thieves that the United Nations said could provide an ingredient for a "dirty bomb," the country's national nuclear safety commission CNSNS said on Wednesday. The truck was found on Wednesday close to where it was stolen outside Mexico City. The thieves removed the radioactive material from a protective case, exposing them to dangerous levels of radiation then dumped it less than a mile away. "Both the container and the radioactive source have been located," said Mardonio Jimenez Rojas, an official at the commission, told Reuters.
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| Mexico finds stolen radioactive material outside box Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:32 PM PST Tepojaco (Mexico) (AFP) - Mexican authorities found Wednesday a stolen medical device containing dangerous radioactive material outside the truck that was carrying it north of Mexico City, threatening the life of those who touched it, officials said. Military and police forces cordoned off the area to prevent contamination after finding the teletherapy machine in a rural area north of Mexico City two days after the truck was stolen. The device containing cobalt-60 was taken out of its steel-reinforced wood container and left hundreds of meters (yards) from the truck in Hueypoxtla, said Mardonio Jimenez, operations director at the National Commission for Nuclear Safety and Safeguards (CNSNS). The white Volkswagen Worker truck was transporting the device from a hospital in the northwestern city of Tijuana when it was stolen at a service station in central Hidalgo state on Monday. |
| Ten beached whales die in Florida Everglades, dozens in danger Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:27 PM PST  By Jane Sutton MIAMI (Reuters) - Ten beached whales have died and rescuers were trying to save dozens more that were swimming in dangerously shallow waters near shore in Everglades National Park in southwest Florida, park and wildlife officials said on Wednesday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, said wildlife officers euthanized four whales because they could not be saved, and rescuers tried with little success to coax another 41 whales out into deeper water. NOAA said via Twitter that survival rates were typically low in such instances. The whales were first sighted on Tuesday afternoon in a remote part of the park near the Gulf of Mexico, park spokeswoman Linda Friar said.
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| Thailand's anti-trafficking effort loses steam Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:27 PM PST By Andrew R.C. Marshall and Jason Szep BANGKOK (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department is gathering information for its next Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report, due to be published in June. It ranks countries on their efforts to combat human trafficking. Thailand faces an automatic downgrade to Tier 3, the lowest rank, unless it makes "significant efforts" to improve its record, the State Department says. In an interview with Reuters, Police Maj-Gen Chatchawal Suksomjit of the Royal Thai Police defended Thailand's record for investigating and prosecuting traffickers and the Thai officials who help them. |
| Stolen cobalt-60 found abandoned Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:14 PM PST MEXICO CITY (AP) — A missing shipment of radioactive cobalt-60 was found Wednesday near where the stolen truck transporting the material was abandoned in central Mexico state, the country's nuclear safety director said. |
| Jamaica scientist launches medical marijuana firm Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:04 PM PST KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A prominent Jamaican scientist and entrepreneur is launching a company that aims to capitalize on medical marijuana, a growing global industry that he asserted Wednesday could be a boon for the island's chronically limping economy. |
| Australia win toss and bat in second Test Posted: 04 Dec 2013 04:02 PM PST  Adelaide (Australia) (AFP) - Australia won the toss and chose to bat in the second Ashes Test against England at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
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| Mexico official: Stolen cobalt-60 found Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:50 PM PST MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's nuclear safety director says that missing radioactive cobalt-60 has been found near where the stolen truck transporting the material was abandoned in central Mexico state. |
| Pressure mounts on Ukraine's leader as Westerwelle flies in Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:44 PM PST Pressure mounted on Ukraine's leader Viktor Yanukovych on Wednesday as Germany's foreign minister met pro-European demonstrators on Kiev's Independence Square, and America's top diplomat said Ukrainians deserved the chance to choose their own future. Three of Ukraine's former presidents also threw their weight behind mass protests against the government's rejection of an EU pact, as thousands kept up a permanent presence in the heart of the capital Kiev. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle flew into Kiev on Wednesday evening for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and headed straight to Kiev's iconic Independence Square where he spoke to protesters in person. |
| Chemical experts eye port to load Syria toxins onto U.S. ship Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:44 PM PST The United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog are awaiting approval from a country to use its port to load Syria's most deadly chemicals onto a U.S. ship for destruction offshore, the head of the mission said on Wednesday. Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Syria mission, briefed the U.N. Security Council on Thursday but did not identify which country she had been in talks with. The OPCW said on Saturday the United States had started modifying a U.S. naval vessel to be able to destroy Syria's 500 tons of chemicals, including actual nerve agents - neutralizing them offshore with other chemicals in a process known as hydrolysis. Italy, Norway and Denmark have offered to transport Syria's chemicals from the northern Syrian port of Latakia with military escorts. |
| Mexico: Stolen radioactive cobalt box found empty Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:37 PM PST MEXICO CITY (AP) — A stolen container of radioactive material was found empty Wednesday and radioactivity was detected nearby, Mexico's nuclear safety director said. |
| Delaying security deal a risk to Afghan forces: U.S. military chief Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:37 PM PST  By Phil Stewart and Missy Ryan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military could wait months for a political decision on whether troops stay or leave Afghanistan, but delaying a security pact would damage the confidence of Afghan forces and undermine NATO's plans, the top U.S. military officer said on Wednesday. The comments by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, came amid an impasse over the security pact, which would allow American troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond the end of 2014. President Barack Obama's administration has said the pact needs to be signed this year, despite resistance from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has suggested the deal might not be concluded before presidential elections in April 2014.
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| Mexico says thieves removed stolen radioactive material from case Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:35 PM PST Mexican police have found a container that held radioactive material and which was stolen by thieves as it was being transported near Mexico City, the country's national nuclear safety commission CNSNS said on Wednesday. The area around the stolen truck has been cordoned off. The plan was to return the radioactive material to a sealed case as soon as possible, the official added, but did not specify its precise whereabouts. |
| Mexico lawmakers preparing to debate energy reform: top senator Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:30 PM PST  By Miguel Gutierrez and Adriana Barrera MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican lawmakers will send a landmark energy bill to Senate committees on Thursday to pave the way for debate on a cornerstone of President Enrique Pena Nieto's economic reform drive, a top ruling party lawmaker said on Wednesday. The bill, which would open Mexico's state-dominated energy sector to private investment in a bid to raise flagging oil output, will need approval of the Senate and lower house of Congress. Supporters say it is needed to raise slowing growth in Mexico, Latin America's second-largest economy. David Penchyna, leader of the Senate's energy committee and a member of Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), said the bill would be submitted to Senate committees on Thursday, but that the committees would not vote on it until Friday at the earliest.
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| Vonn completes first official training run since February Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:13 PM PST  Lake Louise (Canada) (AFP) - Reigning Olympic downhill champion Lindsey Vonn finished her first official training run since February on Wednesday as she placed 22nd in the downhill practice session. Vonn completed the 3,067-metre course in 1:59.53 in cold and sunny conditions just two weeks after a fall in a private training run that has jeopardized her comeback attempt from knee surgery. "Back in one of my favorite places -- Lake Louise!!" Vonn posted on her Instagram page with a photo of her on the Canadian slope. US Ski Team doctors gave Vonn approval on Tuesday to take part in training runs Wednesday and Thursday at Lake Louise, with a final decision on her participation in races Friday through Sunday to be made after her last training run.
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| Mexico: Stolen box with radioactive material found Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:13 PM PST MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's nuclear safety director says a stolen container of radioactive material has been found empty. |
| US seeks limited military ties with Myanmar Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:13 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration faced strong bipartisan opposition Wednesday to plans for limited U.S. engagement with Myanmar's powerful military due to concerns over human rights and its lingering ties with North Korea. |
| Tunisia negotiators set deadline for crisis talks Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:08 PM PST  The powerful Tunisian labor union seeking to broker an agreement between ruling Islamists and secular opponents said on Wednesday the two sides had 10 days to name a prime minister to lead a caretaker administration meant to end the crisis. The Islamist-led government has agreed to step down in a few weeks as a way to ease political turmoil that threatened to destroy the country's transition to democracy nearly three years after its "Arab Spring" uprising. Under a deal brokered by the UGTT union movement, Islamist party Ennahda will step down once the two sides agree on the name of a premier, finish their new constitution and set a date for elections next year. But weeks of talks have stalled over the name of the candidate, although sources say the two sides are close to deciding between attorney Chaouki Tabib and former Finance Minister Jalloul Ayed.
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| China gives no ground to Biden in air zone dispute Posted: 04 Dec 2013 02:58 PM PST  BEIJING (AP) — Giving no ground, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden traded strong arguments Wednesday over China's contentious new air defense zone, with no indication of progress toward defusing a situation that is raising anxieties across Asia and beyond.
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| Four-star Suarez leads Liverpool rout of Norwich Posted: 04 Dec 2013 02:57 PM PST  Luis Suarez proved once again he is one of the world's finest strikers with four goals that were the cornerstone of Liverpool's 5-1 Premier League thrashing of Norwich at Anfield on Wednesday. The Uruguay striker needed just 34 first-half minutes to smash his hat-trick and added his fourth goal with a spectacular 74th-minute free-kick as Liverpool rampaged back to form. It was his third hat-trick against Norwich in the last four clashes between the sides and the first time in Premier League history any player has bagged three trebles against the same team. Suarez lifted his total for the season to 13 goals and proved Liverpool's Premier League title challenge could be maintained without his injured strike partner Daniel Sturridge.
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| Turkey’s Erdogan Battles Country’s Most Powerful Religious Movement Posted: 04 Dec 2013 02:52 PM PST In the early 1970s, Cemal Usak and Recep Tayyip Erdogan were classmates at the Istanbul Imam Hatip Lisesi, an Islamic high school. "I was coming from what you would call a tradition of cultural Islam," says Usak. Today, forty years removed from his high school days, Usak is a leading figure in Turkey's largest Islamic movement, the Gulen community. Erdogan, meanwhile, is the country's Prime Minister and by far the most powerful man in the land, if not the entire region. |
| Kerry arrives in Israel for talks on Iran, peace process Posted: 04 Dec 2013 02:51 PM PST  US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Israel on Wednesday for the first time since world powers struck a nuclear deal with Iran that angered the Jewish state, and amid renewed efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. The two issues are expected to dominate meetings Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas when Kerry travels to Ramallah. His visit comes at a time of heated debate in Israel over its alliance with the US. A state department official said Kerry would provide Netanyahyu with an update on, and "continue the discussion... on the P5+1 negotiations, the first step that was agreed to, as well as the path forward to a comprehensive agreement" with Iran.
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| Toure double inspires rare City away win Posted: 04 Dec 2013 02:45 PM PST  West Bromwich (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Yaya Toure scored twice as Manchester City claimed only their second Premier League away win of the season by beating West Bromwich Albion 3-2 on Wednesday. An early strike from Sergio Aguero and two goals for Yaya Toure, including a second-half penalty saw City to a victory at The Hawthorns which kept them six points adrift of leaders Arsenal. However the night, ended on a disappointing note for the visitors as goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon scored an own-goal and Victor Anichebe reduced the arrears in the last five minutes. But City made light of the late start and began the game at speed with Samir Nasri shooting just wide within seconds.
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| French court blocks extradition of Benin poison plot suspect Posted: 04 Dec 2013 02:39 PM PST  A French court on Wednesday ruled against extraditing a businessman implicated in a plot to kill Benin's President Thomas Boni Yayi. Patrice Talon, a successful Beninese businessman and one-time ally of the president, was accused in October 2012 of trying to kill Boni Yayi by switching his medication for poison. Three people were arrested in Benin last year in connection with the alleged assassination plot: the president's niece, his doctor and a former minister. The case was later dismissed but the three are still in detention after Boni Yayi launched an appeal.
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| Arctic air spreads cold, snow from Rockies to Great Lakes Posted: 04 Dec 2013 02:35 PM PST  By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - A powerful Arctic cold front blanketed the western and central United States on Wednesday, dropping heavy snow on the Colorado Rockies across to the Great Lakes and bringing frigid temperatures across the region. Some mountain locations west of the Continental Divide could see up to 3 feet of snow before the system moves on, said Jim Kalina, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder, Colorado. The cold snap sent bitter chills across many areas of the U.S. west, and the storm stretched across the Dakotas to northeastern Minnesota where up to 3 feet of snow could fall along the north shore of Lake Superior, the weather service said. "We haven't seen a cold snap this early in the year that has lasted so long for 30 or 40 years," said Luke Robinson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula, Montana.
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