| Ukrainian riot police withdraw after overnight move on demonstrators Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:05 PM PST By Alissa de Carbonnel and Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian protesters stood their ground on Wednesday after an overnight sweep by riot police and their leaders dismissed an offer of talks from a president they say must quit for favoring ties with Russia over the European Union. Pressed by Europe and the United States, which condemned the destruction of a protest camp in central Kiev, President Viktor Yanukovich offered to meet opposition leaders to find a way out of a crisis that blew up last month when he yielded to pressure from Moscow and spurned a free trade deal with the EU. The authorities had made their most forceful attempt so far to reclaim the streets, sending in battalions of riot police with bulldozers to clear Independence Square. Within hours, after meetings with U.S. and European Union officials who had urged him to compromise, Yanukovich asked his opponents to meet him to negotiate a way out of the impasse: "I invite representatives of all political parties, priests, representatives of civil society to national talks," he said in a statement that also called on the opposition not to "go down the road of confrontation and ultimatums". |
| Thai crisis deepens as PM's supporters weigh in Posted: 11 Dec 2013 12:47 PM PST  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Aubrey Belford BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's red-shirted supporters said on Wednesday they were ready to defend her government in the streets from an elite-backed protest movement seeking to install an unelected "People's Council". The warning highlights the risks of a crisis centered on the electoral and legislative power of the Shinawatra family, revered by the rural and urban poor but reviled by Bangkok's royalist elite as inept and graft-ridden. The turmoil has veered from violent protests in which five people were killed and more than 300 wounded to occupations of government buildings and, in recent days, bewildering statements by Suthep Thaugsuban, a veteran politician who quit the mainstream opposition to lead the protesters. Security forces have remained aligned with the government and missed deadlines have become the norm for a protest movement that has openly courted anarchy on Bangkok streets in hopes of inducing a military coup or judicial intervention to bring down Yingluck.
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| Blood donation collectors thrown out of Israeli parliament Posted: 11 Dec 2013 03:00 PM PST By Ori Lewis JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The speaker of Israel's parliament ordered a blood-collection crew to leave the legislature's premises on Wednesday after it turned down an offer of a blood donation from an Ethiopian-born lawmaker. Knesset member Pnina Tamano-Shata, 32, wanted to donate blood to a routine visit by an ambulance service but was told by a member of the crew that set criteria disqualified her because she emigrated to Israel from Ethiopia at age three. Israeli Health Ministry criteria bar people born in most African countries since 1977 from donating blood due to a fear that there is an increased risk they may carry the HIV virus. Tamano-Shata said ministry guidelines determine that Ethiopian-born Jews who emigrated to Israel when they were over two years old are ineligible to be blood donors. |
| Egyptian forces arrest Qataris at Al Jazeera office in Cairo: report Posted: 11 Dec 2013 03:58 PM PST Egyptian security forces raided an office of Qatar's Al Jazeera television channel late Wednesday night and arrested 11 Qatari citizens, state newspaper Al-Ahram reported. Four Qatari police officers were among those arrested, Al-Ahram said. Al Jazeera's offices in Cairo have been closed since July 3, when they were raided by security forces hours after Mursi was toppled, although the channel, broadcast from Qatar, can still be seen in Egypt. Al-Ahram quoted security officials saying that they searched the office after receiving reports that firearms were inside. |
| Rwandan Hutu fighters in Congo surrendering in large numbers: U.N. Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:00 PM PST Members of a Rwandan Hutu militia in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been surrendering in large numbers to U.N. peacekeepers trying to neutralize armed groups in the region, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday. Congolese troops and the U.N. peacekeeping mission - which includes a unique Intervention Brigade mandated to eliminate armed groups in eastern Congo - have turned their attention to combating the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) after defeating the Tutsi-led M23 rebel group last month. Martin Kobler, head of the U.N. mission, said operations against the FDLR began on November 27. They were not involved in the 1994 genocide so it is easier for them also to surrender to us," Kobler told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council on the situation in Congo behind closed doors. |
| Italian PM Letta wins confidence votes, vows reforms Posted: 11 Dec 2013 01:51 PM PST  By James Mackenzie ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a confidence vote in the Senate on Wednesday, confirming his government's majority after promising sweeping reforms and urging lawmakers to back him or risk chaos. Letta told parliament Italy had avoided reforms for 20 years and could no longer afford to delay, with protests across the country this week underlining the bitter public mood after years of painful attempts to squeeze costs and boost revenues. I won't give in to those who say the chaos is too much and we can't do anything," he said, pledging to combat a growing tide of political disillusion and hostility to the European Union. The confidence votes were called to confirm Letta's majority after center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi pulled his Forza Italia party out of the ruling coalition last month.
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| Competitive hunting of wolves, coyotes in Idaho sparks outcry Posted: 11 Dec 2013 05:13 PM PST By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - The first statewide competition in decades to hunt wolves and coyotes in Idaho has sparked outrage among wildlife conservationists, who condemned it as "an organized killing contest." The so-called coyote and wolf derby is slated for the weekend of December 28-29 in the mountain town of Salmon, Idaho, where ranchers and hunting guides contend wolves and coyotes threaten livestock and game animals prized by sportsmen. The tournament offers cash and trophies to two-person teams for such hunting objectives as killing the largest wolf and the most female coyotes. Idaho opened wolves to licensed hunting more than two years ago after assuming regulation of its wolf population from the federal government. But Idaho Department of Fish and Game wolf manager Jason Husseman said the upcoming event is believed to be the first competitive wolf shoot to be held in the continental United States since 1974, when wolves across the country came under federal Endangered Species Act protections. |
| Air Canada orders 61 Boeing 737s for $6.5 bn Posted: 11 Dec 2013 04:18 PM PST  Air Canada announced Wednesday it had placed a firm $6.5 billion order for 61 Boeing 737 MAX narrow-body aircraft, with options on 18 more planes and purchase rights for 30 others. Air Canada said the move would create "one of the world's youngest, most fuel-efficient and simplified airline fleets." "Our narrowbody fleet renewal program is expected to yield significant cost savings," Air Canada president and chief executive Calin Rovinescu said in a statement. Air Canada, based in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, plans to grow its fleet from 192 aircraft to about 214 by the end of 2019.
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| Arsenal through to last 16 as Napoli miss out Posted: 11 Dec 2013 03:14 PM PST  Naples (Italy) (AFP) - Arsenal qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League despite losing 2-0 away to Napoli on Wednesday, while the Italian side agonisingly miss out. Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon both scored in the second half either side of Mikel Arteta's sending-off, but Borussia Dortmund's dramatic late 2-1 win in Marseille saw them go through as winners of Group F ahead of Arsenal and pushed Napoli into third place. The Premier League leaders did just enough in the heated atmosphere of the San Paolo stadium, with Napoli needing to win by three goals to be certain of qualifying, and Arsene Wenger's side can look forward to playing in the Champions League knockout stages for the 14th year in succession.
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| Italy's Letta wins parliament vote, vowing to fight 'chaos' Posted: 11 Dec 2013 03:14 PM PST  Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Wednesday won a parliamentary confidence vote triggered by the fall of Silvio Berlusconi, promising to push through a pro-European reform agenda and fight populism. Letta vowed to bring political stability and economic growth to a country on the point of exiting its longest post-war recession, condemning "chaos" after anti-austerity protests this week across Italy. "We will not allow Italy to sink again," Letta told lawmakers, promising to "fight with everything I have to avoid our country being thrown back into chaos just as it is beginning to lift itself up again". "On that side are those who want to block Europe," he said in a thinly-veiled reference to Berlusconi and the anti-establishment firebrand politician Beppe Grillo.
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| White House: deadline for Afghan security pact could slip into January Posted: 11 Dec 2013 03:11 PM PST  The White House would like Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a bilateral security agreement by the end of the year, but the deadline could slip into early January, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The deal would permit the United States to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond the end of 2014 to support Afghan forces and conduct limited counterterrorism activities. "If you're asking, 'Does that mean that if they sign it on January 10th, that's going to be a huge problem?' Probably not," said Josh Earnest, a deputy spokesman for the White House. The United States says it gave Afghanistan a year-end deadline to sign the agreement because it needs time to plan its troop presence after 2014.
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| Interpreter for deaf at Mandela event called fake Posted: 11 Dec 2013 03:08 PM PST  JOHANNESBURG (AP) — As one world leader after another paid homage to Nelson Mandela at a memorial service, the man standing at arm's length from them appeared to interpret their words in sign language. But advocates for the deaf say he was a faker.
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| Black and white, thousands bid farewell to Mandela Posted: 11 Dec 2013 03:05 PM PST  PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Black and white, old and young, South Africans by the thousands paid final tribute Wednesday to their beloved Nelson Mandela. In silence or murmuring, they filed past the coffin. Some glanced back, as if clinging to the sight, a moment in history.
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| Brazil gov't may backtrack on auto safety laws Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:54 PM PST  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Brazilian government may delay "by one or two years" the implementation of a law requiring automakers to install frontal air bags and anti-lock braking systems in all new cars, the finance minister said Wednesday.
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| Africans lament poor transparency over mineral wealth Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:53 PM PST  Most Africans believe their politicians can commit crimes such as stealing and mismanagement with impunity, according to a survey released on Wednesday of 22 of the continent's natural resource-producing countries. Despite attempts to improve governance and transparency in the natural resources sector, a majority said it was difficult to find out how their government was using money from sectors such as mining and oil production. "The two streams of perception create interesting challenges for governments trying to negotiate with foreign companies for the best mineral and petroleum extraction deals while maintaining transparency and accountability," the survey, by Afrobarometer, said.
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| 'Happy tears' as S.Africans celebrate Mandela's life Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:51 PM PST  Tens of thousands of South Africans danced and sang for Nelson Mandela on Wednesday as formal ceremonies were put aside to celebrate the hero who was known for his own trademark shuffle. International and local stars from Johnny Clegg to Annie Lennox took to the stage in the free concert in Cape Town to pay tribute to Mandela's remarkable life and journey. "This is what he would have liked because he liked music very much," said Nodumo Dayimani, 33. "He knows how we celebrate in South Africa -- we like to sing, we like to dance.
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| Congress to hold off on Iran sanctions for now Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:50 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Possible House action this week against Iran could fall short of new penalties that might derail a short-term nuclear agreement and Senate steps seem further off, legislatives aides said Wednesday, as the Obama administration appealed for patience.
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| Mandela memorial sign language interpreter a 'fraud' Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:50 PM PST  The sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial was accused Wednesday of being a fake who merely flapped his arms around during speeches. "He's a complete fraud," Cara Loening, director of Sign Language Education and Development in Cape Town told AFP. The interpreter, who translated eulogies including those of US President Barack Obama and Mandela's grandchildren, looked as if he was "trying to swat a few flies away from his face and his head". "The deaf community in South Africa are completely outraged and nobody knows who he is," said Loening.
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| Ba ensures Chelsea take top spot Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:49 PM PST  Demba Ba ensured Chelsea finished top of Champions League Group E as the Senegal striker clinched a 1-0 win over Steaua Bucharest on Wednesday. Jose Mourinho's side had already qualified for the last 16 of Europe's elite club competition, but they needed a victory in their final group fixture at Stamford Bridge to guarantee first place. Ba's first half goal was enough to fulfil that ambition and, while Chelsea were some way from their best, this fairly forgettable encounter could yet prove a significant stepping stone if they go on to have a successful European campaign. Mourinho claimed on Monday that Chelsea were unlikely to win the Champions League this season because the squad is still a work in progress in the first season of his second spell at the Bridge.
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| Turnout for Mandela goodbye speaks to S.Africa's troubles Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:46 PM PST  For those who had expected millions of South Africans to pour on to the streets for Nelson Mandela's funeral, the events of the past week may have seemed subdued. But the reaction speaks volumes about the reality of everyday life in today's South Africa. Even before Nelson Mandela's death, many had reached into history to find examples of what to expect. Parallels were drawn with the last rites of Mahatma Gandhi, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Princess Diana, Pope John Paul II and even Joseph Stalin, all of which brought millions of people together.
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| Spectre of lynching haunts Central Africa Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:33 PM PST  Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - The father of a slain French soldier has described how disarmed Muslim fighters in the Central African Republic were lynched by a Christian mob in harrowing testimony that raised the spectre of a new wave of sectarian killing in the troubled state. President Francois Hollande said France's intervention in CAR was "essential in the face of abuses and massacres", vowing the mission would continue until African forces could take over. Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian admitted however that the mission represented a much more difficult task than France's military intervention against Islamist rebels in Mali earlier this year. Those remarks were borne out by Philippe Vokaer's account of his final contact with his 23-year-old son Nicolas, one of two French paratroopers killed in a firefight while on a night patrol in the capital Bangui on Monday.
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| From seed to smoke, Uruguay testing legalized pot Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:33 PM PST  MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Uruguay's drug control chief, Julio Calzada, is a nervous man.
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| U.S. lawmakers warn of sanctions if Ukraine violence worsens Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:24 PM PST By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are considering legislation to deny visas to Ukrainian officials or freeze their U.S. assets if there is an escalation of violence against anti-government demonstrators. Both Democrats and Republicans have condemned harsh measures during weeks of protests by hundreds of thousands of people protesting President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to scrap a trade deal with the European Union and steer Ukraine closer to Russia. "We're going to be watching Yanukovich's conduct very carefully," said Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, chairman of the Senate's Europe subcommittee. "His conduct over the last 24 hours is unacceptable, and if he continues to use bulldozers and batons to break up peaceful demonstrations, there could be consequences, real consequences, from the Congress," Murphy told Reuters. |
| News outlets urge Syria rebels to halt abductions Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:14 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Major international news organizations sent a letter to the leadership of the armed opposition in Syria Wednesday, calling for urgent action against rebel groups increasingly targeting journalists for kidnappings. |
| Nigeria leader slams ex-president's 'reckless' accusations Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:08 PM PST  The Nigerian presidency on Wednesday hit back at criticism by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, describing his widely leaked letter accusing Goodluck Jonathan of leadership failures as "indecorous" and "reckless". Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati said in a statement that Obasanjo's letter to President Jonathan was deliberately leaked to the media in an effort to "to impugn the integrity of the president". "I want nothing from you personally except that you should run the affairs of Nigeria not only to make Nigeria good, but to make Nigeria great for which I have always pleaded with you and I will always do so. Sani Abacha, a dictator in power from 1993 to 1998 when he died, ruled Nigeria with an iron fist, jailing and driving his critics into exile.
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| Mexico Senate passes energy bill; leftists seek to derail Posted: 11 Dec 2013 02:07 PM PST  By Miguel Gutierrez and Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Senate on Wednesday approved an energy reform to permit the biggest oil industry opening in 75 years, sending it to the lower house where leftists padlocked doors to the chamber to stop lawmakers from debating the bill. The reform in the world's No. 10 oil producer, backed by the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and the opposition conservative National Action Party (PAN), was sent to the lower house for debate and final approval. The stalling tactics by leftists are unlikely to do more than cause a slight delay in approving the bill, which passed the Senate with more than two thirds of the lawmakers' votes.
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| Letta's Italian govt wins confidence votes Posted: 11 Dec 2013 01:47 PM PST  ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Enrico Letta's reconstituted governing coalition comfortably survived confidence votes Wednesday that were called after Silvio Berlusconi jumped to the opposition.
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| NSA: No better way to protect US than surveillance Posted: 11 Dec 2013 01:45 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The NSA chief said Wednesday he knows of no better way his agency can help protect the U.S. from foreign threats than with spy programs that collect billions of phone and Internet records from around the world.
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| S.Africa's ANC could miss chance to profit from 'Madiba magic' Posted: 11 Dec 2013 01:43 PM PST  South Africa's long goodbye to Nelson Mandela was seen as an opportunity for the ruling African National Congress to cement ties with the revered icon. In a sign of growing disenchantment with their leadership, large numbers of South African mourners heckled President Jacob Zuma during Mandela's memorial in Soweto on Tuesday. The highly embarrassing act, by a crowd mostly sporting ANC green and yellow colours, made clear the disappointment of the party activists who drew unflattering comparisons between the ANC of Mandela's era and that of Zuma's. Party supporters "are making a distinction between the persona of Nelson Mandela, the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the ANC under Nelson Mandela... and the current era of President Zuma," said Cape Town-based analyst Daniel Silke.
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| Ukraine's president is a political survivor Posted: 11 Dec 2013 01:23 PM PST  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has a history of being humiliated, most memorably in the 2004 Orange Revolution that deprived him of the presidency.
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| UN court says Mladic must testify in Karadzic trial Posted: 11 Dec 2013 01:10 PM PST Former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic must give evidence in the war crimes trial of his political counterpart Radovan Karadzic, a UN tribunal ruled on Wednesday. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said Karadzic had asked that the former military leader act as a witness for the defence. Both men have been charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity over their roles in the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, in which 100,000 people died. Karadzic expects Mladic to testify that "in numerous conversations and meetings he had with the accused 'they never agreed or planned to expel Muslims or Croats' from areas under Serb control," The Hague-based court said in its ruling. |
| US, Britain halt nonlethal aid in northern Syria Posted: 11 Dec 2013 12:58 PM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. and Britain said Wednesday they were suspending deliveries to rebels in northern Syria of nonlethal aid such as communications equipment and laptops after some of the gear was seized by Islamic militants.
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| Israel spurns blood of Ethiopian-born lawmaker Posted: 11 Dec 2013 12:58 PM PST  The refusal of Israel's equivalent of the Red Cross to accept blood from an Ethiopian Jewish lawmaker sparked demands on Wednesday for a review of guidelines seen as deeply discriminatory. The rejection of the blood from Pnina Tamano-Shata by an official of Magen David Adom came at a donor drive outside parliament and was caught on video footage which was widely aired by Israeli television channels. Ministry guidelines do not in fact bar donations from all of Israel's more than 120,000 Ethiopian Jews, only to those 80,000 among them who were born in Africa and migrated to Israel, most of them in two massive airlifts in 1984 and 1991. Tamano-Shata is a member of parliament for the centrist Yesh Atid party, part of Israel's governing coalition.
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| Montreal seeks drug law exemption for consumption rooms Posted: 11 Dec 2013 12:50 PM PST  Montreal health officials demanded a legal exemption Wednesday to allow four "shooting galleries" for addicts to inject drugs legally and under supervision. The project would create three consumption rooms open in downtown Montreal and a mobile unit to service the city's farther reaches, city health chief Richard Masse told AFP. If the city's health agency is given the green light for exemption from Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the shooting galleries could open their doors in spring 2014. "We hope the Canadian government will grant us an exemption from the drug act as soon as possible," said Masse.
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| 38 dead in Darfur-border tribal dispute Posted: 11 Dec 2013 12:50 PM PST  A tribal dispute on the border of Sudan's Darfur region has killed 38 people, the United Nations said on Wednesday. "According to reports received by the UN, 16 Maaliya and 22 Hamar tribesmen were killed following clashes" on December 5, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its weekly bulletin. The fighting, apparently sparked by a dispute over grazing rights, occurred in West Kordofan state just over the border from East Darfur's Adila region. "Fighting stopped following the deployment of SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) and negotiations between tribal leaders from both tribes.
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