| U.S., Russia fail to agree on Syria peace talks date Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:08 PM PST By Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States and Russia failed on Tuesday to agree on a date for a Syrian peace conference, remaining divided over what role Iran might play in talks to end the civil war and over who would represent Syria's opposition. unfortunately we are not," said U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who chaired the meeting at the United Nations in Geneva. "But we are still striving to see if we can have the conference before the end of the year." Brahimi conferred with senior U.S. and Russian officials before widening the talks to include representatives from Britain, France and China, as well as Syria's neighbors Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and the Arab League. Brahimi said he would bring Russian and U.S. officials together again on November 25 and hoped that opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would have agreed on delegates to represent them some days before that. |
| Kerry says Israeli, Palestinian talks face difficulties Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:10 PM PST  By Lesley Wroughton JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday Israeli- Palestinian peace talks had run into difficulties but thought it still possible some agreement could be reached. Israeli and Palestinian officials painted a grim picture of the talks resumed under Kerry's tutelage in July after a long stalemate, saying they were going nowhere. "I come here without any illusions about the difficulties, but I come here determined to work," Kerry said after arriving in Israel ahead of talks on Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "We believe this is something that is possible and that it's good for all and can be achieved," Kerry told a remembrance service for late Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in 2005 by a right-wing Israeli opposed to his peacemaking with Palestinians.
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| 'No-spy' pact with Germany unlikely despite Snowden's revelations Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:58 PM PST  By Steve Holland and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is working to improve intelligence cooperation with Germany but a sweeping "no-spy" agreement between the two countries is unlikely, a senior Obama administration official said on Tuesday. German and U.S. intelligence officials are meeting this week following reports that the National Security Agency had monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone. Senior German officials met at the White House last week with the national security adviser, Susan Rice, and other U.S. officials to discuss how to improve intelligence cooperation and ease strains resulting from the Merkel reports. Despite the quiet diplomacy, U.S. and German officials are struggling to reach agreement on a formula for tamping down a growing public controversy over alleged American spying excesses.
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| Israeli PM's ally Lieberman to hear corruption verdict Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:07 PM PST  By Allyn Fisher-Ilan JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli far-right party leader Avigdor Lieberman, a key ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will hear on Wednesday whether or not he has been found guilty of corruption. Lieberman's ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party is so important to Netanyahu that he has kept open the post of foreign minister that Lieberman quit shortly before being indicted. The party has grown into one of Israel's largest political forces on the strength of votes from Lieberman's fellow immigrants from former Soviet republics. The widely read Ynet news Web site said a guilty verdict could spark a "political firestorm" because the party might be destabilized and leave a vacuum in Netanyahu's ruling coalition.
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| Toronto Mayor Ford admits he smoked crack; will not resign Posted: 05 Nov 2013 04:21 PM PST  By Cameron French TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted on Tuesday he has smoked crack cocaine, probably "in one of my drunken stupors," but insisted he's not an addict and said he would stay in office and run for reelection next year. Speaking just days after Toronto's police chief confirmed that police have recovered a copy of a video that two media organizations have said shows the mayor smoking the drug, Ford said he had smoked crack about a year ago. "To the residents of Toronto, I know I have let you down, and I can't do anything else but apologize," he said. Elected in 2010 on a cost-cutting platform, Ford has been able to maintain strong voter support in his suburban base even as the scandal has escalated.
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| France won't delay Mali troop withdrawal despite killings Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:59 PM PST  By John Irish and Tiemoko Diallo PARIS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - France will stick to its timetable for withdrawing troops from Mali despite a resurgence in violence and the killing of two French journalists, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday. France, which sent soldiers to its former colony in January to combat militants who had taken over large swathes of Mali, has already delayed by two months plans to reduce troop numbers from 3,200 to 1,000 by the end of the year. Speaking on Radio France Internationale, Fabius said France had moved 150 soldiers from the south to Kidal, the northerly Tuareg rebel stronghold, where instability has grown in recent months and where the journalists were abducted. President Francois Hollande "immediately decided to strengthen our presence in Kidal, but that does not call into question the calendar and the reduction of French forces," Fabius said.
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| Toronto mayor admits crack use, plans to keep job Posted: 05 Nov 2013 05:04 PM PST  TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford acknowledged for the first time Tuesday that he smoked crack "probably a year ago" when he was in a "drunken stupor," but he refused to resign despite immense pressure to step aside as leader of Canada's largest city.
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| Canada suspends three senators in spending scandal Posted: 05 Nov 2013 04:57 PM PST  Canada's Senate on Tuesday effectively expelled three of their own for what an audit revealed were "troubling" expense claims, as a federal police probe intensified. Senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau -- all of whom were appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- in a vote were stripped of their duties, staff and salaries for two years.
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| Austerity protesters target Buckingham Palace Posted: 05 Nov 2013 04:45 PM PST  Hundreds of Anonymous protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks protested outside Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II's London home, as part of a global demonstration against austerity on Tuesday. "They started shouting move back, move back, but we had nowhere to go," said protester Ceylan Hassan. The protest coincided with Bonfire Night in Britain, the annual commemoration of the failed 1605 "Gunpowder Plot", in which Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up parliament in order to install a Catholic monarch.
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| U.S. skeptical of Syria chemical arms declaration: U.N. envoy Posted: 05 Nov 2013 04:22 PM PST The United States is reviewing with skepticism the Syrian government's chemical arms declaration, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations said on Tuesday as another official cautioned that intelligence suggested Syria may try to hide some weapons. Under a Russian-U.S. proposal, Syria agreed in September to destroy its chemical weapons program by mid-2014, averting a threat of missile strikes by Washington following an August 21 sarin gas attack in Damascus that killed hundreds of people. Syria's submitted the lengthy declaration of its chemical weapons program on October 27 and must agree a plan with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) by mid-November that explains in detail how and where to destroy the poisons, including mustard gas, sarin and possibly VX. We obviously bring skepticism born of years of dealing with this regime, years of obfuscation in other contexts, and of course a lot of broken promises in the context of this current war," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said. |
| Brazil protest groups call fresh demos Posted: 05 Nov 2013 04:06 PM PST  Black Bloc anarchists joined other protestors in more than a dozen Brazilian cities Tuesday to mark Guy Fawkes day, the anniversary of the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot in London. Many here have donned Guy Fawkes masks in recent months as they took to the streets unhappy with corruption and political administration. "We want to change this corrupt system," said Eron Morales de Melo, a veteran protester dressed as Batman.
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| Findings of Arafat death probe handed to Palestinians Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:53 PM PST  Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian authorities have received the reports of Swiss and Russian forensic investigations into the 2004 death of Yasser Arafat, an official said Tuesday, without disclosing the findings. "The report was delivered" by the Swiss laboratory, Tawfiq Tirawi, who heads the Palestinian investigation into Arafat's death, told AFP. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA said that a Russian team appointed by the Palestinian Authority also handed in its report on November 2 and that its conclusions would be made public in due course. Some 60 samples were taken from the remains of the late Palestinian leader in November last year for a probe into whether he was poisoned by polonium.
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| Syria may try to hide chemical weapons: U.S. official Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:34 PM PST The United States is reviewing intelligence suggesting Syrian President Bashar al Assad's government may try to keep some chemical weapons instead of turning them all over for destruction, a U.S. official said on Tuesday. Under a Russian-U.S. proposal, Syria agreed in September to destroy its chemical weapons program by mid-2014, averting a threat of U.S. missile strikes. The official said it was important that the international community keep the Syrian government's "feet to the fire" to ensure that all Syrian chemical weapons are declared and destroyed. |
| Toronto mayor vows to stay on after admitting crack use Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:26 PM PST  Toronto (Canada) (AFP) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford apologized Tuesday after admitting that he once smoked crack cocaine, but vowed to stay in office in Canada's largest city and even seek re-election. The stunning admission by the 44-year-old Ford came after his repeated denials, and six months after a video surfaced that allegedly showed him consuming the illicit drug.
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| Canada backs handwriting evidence in Paris bombing Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:25 PM PST  Toronto (Canada) (AFP) - Canadian Crown attorneys on Tuesday defended key handwriting evidence that led to a decision to extradite a Canadian university professor accused of a deadly 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue. Hassan Diab is appealing the 2011 court decision and the Canadian government's order to extradite the former University of Ottawa sociologist to France, despite the court's concerns that the case was "weak." Diab denies any involvement in the first fatal attack against the French Jewish community since the Nazi occupation in World War II, which left four dead and many wounded.
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| Kerry evokes memories of Rabin to push peace talks Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:18 PM PST  US Secretary of State John Kerry evoked painful and haunting memories Tuesday of Israel's slain prime minister Yitzhak Rabin to urge Israelis and Palestinians to find the courage needed to reach a long-elusive peace deal. But only a few hours after Kerry arrived in Israel on a new mission to bring the two sides together, a Palestinian official said peace negotiations have stumbled. The official said the Palestinians would refuse to continue participating in direct talks as long as Israel fails to halt settlement building. Rabin, who memorably shook hands with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn, was gunned down on November 4, 1995 by a right-wing Israeli extremist opposed to concessions in the peace talks.
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| Dutch take Russia to maritime court to free Greenpeace activists Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:09 PM PST  The Netherlands will ask an international court on Wednesday to order Russia to release 30 people detained during a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic. The detainees, two of whom are Dutch, have been charged with hooliganism for the September 18 protest in which Greenpeace environmentalist activists tried to scale Russia's first offshore Arctic oil rig. The Dutch hope the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg will make a ruling by mid-November that would secure the provisional release of the captives who have all been denied bail in a case that has strained relations with the West, particularly the Netherlands. Russia has told the court it does not accept the Netherlands' case and will not participate in the proceedings that will start, in any case, on Wednesday.
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| Gunmen kill sports journalist in Mexico Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:05 PM PST  Culiacan (Mexico) (AFP) - Gunmen killed a Mexican sports journalist who was driving in a car in the northern state of Sinaloa, officials said Tuesday. Three carloads of gunmen chased Alberto Angulo Gerardo's car and fired when he refused to stop in the small town of Angostura, a police official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Mexico's National Human Rights Commission launched an investigation into the killing, which took place in a state dominated by the Sinaloa drug cartel. But the Sinaloa state police director, Jesus Antonio Aguilar, said the gunmen were apparently trying to steal the journalist's car.
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| Elusive Syria peace talks delayed by rivals' divisions Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:59 PM PST  World powers failed Tuesday to set a date for a long-delayed Syria peace conference, as deep divisions persisted between rival camps over the conditions for their participation. "We were hoping that we'd be in a position to announce a date today, unfortunately we're not," UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters in Geneva. His comments followed a day of intense discussions with senior diplomats in Geneva aimed at preparing a new international conference to try to end the Syrian conflict. A landmark Russian-US accord reached in September to destroy Syria's chemical arsenal by mid-2014 had raised hopes that diplomatic efforts might also manage to coax the warring sides to the table later this month.
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| Van Persie misses penalty in Sociedad stalemate Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:44 PM PST  San Sebastian (Spain) (AFP) - Robin Van Persie missed a second-half penalty as Manchester United edged towards the Champions League last-16 with a 0-0 draw away to Real Sociedad on Tuesday. The Dutch international had only been introduced by United boss David Moyes as a substitute, but saw his spot-kick come back off Claudio Bravo's left-hand post 20 minutes from time. Javier Hernandez and Van Persie had also passed up clear opportunities to put the visitors in front before the penalty, but they had to see the game out with 10 men after Marouane Felliani was shown a second yellow card in stoppage time. Another 0-0 draw between Shakhtar Donetsk and Bayer Leverkusen means United continue to lead the Germans by a point with the two sides set to meet in Leverkusen in three weeks time.
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| New York chooses new mayor on US election day Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:43 PM PST  New Yorkers went to the polls Tuesday to choose a new mayor, as voters across the United States cast ballots in the first major round of elections since President Barack Obama was re-elected last year. The race in the Big Apple -- in which progressive Democrat Bill de Blasio is widely tipped to replace billionaire Michael Bloomberg -- is one of several seen as a barometer of public opinion ahead of congressional elections in 2014. Also closely watched are the elections in New Jersey and Virginia for state governors, with Republican incumbent Chris Christie -- a possible presidential contender in 2016 -- a virtual shoo-in in New Jersey.
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| Clampdown on illegal workers felt in several Saudi areas Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:42 PM PST  Stores in a usually bustling district of the Saudi capital were closed, construction work at some sites slowed and bakeries around the country shuttered Tuesday, amid a clampdown on illegal workers. Residents in Riyadh said stores were closed in the popular Al-Batha commercial hub, a cheap market that employs low-paid Asian vendors. At the same time, residents said work had slowed at a construction site in Thumamama, north of Riyadh. And Fahd Al-Salman, chairman of the National Committee for Bakeries at the Council of Saudi Chambers, told the Arab News daily that the labour shortage had led to the closure of many bakeries in the kingdom.
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| Palestinians: No talks with Israel while settlement grows Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:40 PM PST  Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - The Palestinians cannot continue peace talks with Israel if Jewish settlement on the occupied West Bank keeps expanding, a senior Palestinian official told AFP Tuesday.
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| Toronto Mayor Ford admits he smoked crack; will not resign Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:32 PM PST By Cameron French TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted on Tuesday he has smoked crack cocaine, probably "in one of my drunken stupors," but insisted he's not an addict and said he would stay in office and run for reelection next year. Speaking just days after Toronto's police chief confirmed that police have recovered a copy of a video that two media organizations have said shows the mayor smoking the drug, Ford said he had smoked crack about a year ago. "To the residents of Toronto, I know I have let you down, and I can't do anything else but apologize," he said. A poll taken after Police Chief Bill Blair confirmed the existence of the video put Ford's approval rating at 44 percent, up five points from a previous poll. |
| Toronto mayor apologizes for drug use Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:11 PM PST Toronto Mayor Rob Ford apologized on Tuesday for smoking crack cocaine and promised he would never make the mistake again, but he insisted he would stay in his job and run for re-election next year. |
| UN envoy: No deal on Syrian peace talks date Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:09 PM PST  GENEVA (AP) — After a rocky day of U.N.-brokered talks, the United States and Russia failed to agree on a date to bring Syria's warring sides back to the negotiating table, and the two powers remained divided Tuesday over what role Iran should play in a hoped-for Geneva peace conference.
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| Senate to vote on Berlusconi expulsion, ex-PM hopes for pardon Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:04 PM PST  Italy's Senate on Tuesday announced it will vote on November 27 on whether to strip former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi of his seat under a law banning convicted criminals from parliament. Ejection from the Senate following his conviction for tax fraud would mean Berlusconi being out of parliament for the first time since 1994, when the media and construction magnate first burst onto Italy's political scene. His centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party immediately announced an appeal in a bid to delay the moment the political guillotine will fall for a man who has dominated Italian affairs of state for the past two decades. A special cross-party Senate committee dominated by his political opponents recommended last month that he be expelled from parliament.
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| Italy to divert cruise ships from historic Venice Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:54 PM PST MILAN (AP) — A special commission on Tuesday approved a plan to divert cruise ships away from Venice's historic center by 2016, but activists seeking to rid the city of the giant ships expressed reservations about the proposed new route. |
| Toronto mayor vows to stay on Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:53 PM PST TORONTO (AP) — Rob Ford said Tuesday he loves his job and will stay on as mayor of Toronto despite admitting for the first time that he smoked crack. |
| Egypt's ousted president in high-security prison Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:51 PM PST  CAIRO (AP) — Deep in the desert and far from his former base of power, ousted President Mohammed Morsi is being held in a sprawling penitentiary that is notorious as one of Egypt's highest-security prisons.
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| Iran says deal possible in new nuclear talks Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:49 PM PST  Iran said Tuesday a deal was possible on its disputed nuclear programme at talks due to resume Thursday with world powers, as it announced the UN atomic watchdog chief would visit next week. "I believe it is even possible to reach that agreement this week but I can only talk for our side, I cannot talk for the other side," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told France 24 television. The so-called P5+1 group of major powers will meet Iran's nuclear team in Geneva on Thursday and Friday for the latest round of negotiations revived after the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate. Both sides hope to build on a meeting last month hailed as "substantive" by all sides, at which Iran's delegation outlined a new proposal and met bilaterally with the US for the first time since 2009.
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| Yemeni president warns of sectarian fighting Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:48 PM PST SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's president is warning of sectarian violence in his country after deadly clashes continued for a second week in the restive north between rebels from a branch of Shiite Islam and ultraconservative Sunnis. |
| Russians to meet with Syrian opposition Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:43 PM PST  Russian representatives and members of the Syrian opposition are set to meet in Geneva Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Russian media. "We will hold a whole series of contacts with the Syrian opposition," he was quoted as saying late Tuesday by the Interfax news agency. Gatilov, whose country has long been one of the Syrian regime's starkest allies, did not say who the Russian diplomats would meet nor which opposition groups they represented. His comments came after UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and a wide range of senior diplomats, including Gatilov, met for intense discussions Tuesday but failed to set a date for the long-delayed conference, dubbed Geneva II.
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| Toronto mayor admits he smoked crack while drunk Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:42 PM PST TORONTO (AP) — Rob Ford says he loves his job and will stay on as mayor of Toronto despite admitting for the first time that he smoked crack. |
| Iranian official: Lift social media bans Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:26 PM PST TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's culture minister is urging authorities to unblock social media networks that are widely used by government figures but remain officially banned, the state news agency said Tuesday. |
| DR Congo state mining firm seeks to regain lost lustre Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:25 PM PST  As the Congolese army makes its final push to chase M23 rebels out of the conflict-hit east, the head of the country's state mining firm Gecamines is eyeing a return to the golden days of copper and cobalt production. Once among the world's leading copper producers, the company has been overtaken in the last four decades by rivals elsewhere as production was crippled by successive conflicts plaguing the Democratic Republic of Congo. From a production of some 500,000 tonnes a year at the end of the 1980s, the company now generates just 35,000 tonnes "with difficulty", Gecamines chief executive Albert Yuma told AFP. It found a firm with technology that was more or less obsolete, while the "only source of known copper reserves lay in a mine with an uncertified estimate of more or less 200,000 tonnes".
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