| North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un's powerful uncle executed Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:08 PM PST  By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Friday the uncle of leader Kim Jong Un, previously considered the second most powerful man in the secretive state, has been executed for treason, the biggest upheaval since the death of Kim's father two years ago. The North's official KCNA news agency said Jang Song Thaek had been executed after a special military tribunal found him guilty of treason, only days after he was stripped of all posts and expelled from the ruling Workers' Party. News of the execution followed a swirl of unconfirmed media reports that one or more of Jang's aides had defected to South Korea. North Korean politics are virtually impenetrable from outside and the reason could also easily be a falling out between Kim and his uncle, or even with Jang's wife.
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| U.N. confirms chemical arms were used repeatedly in Syria Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:28 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Chemical weapons were likely used in five out of seven attacks investigated by U.N. experts in Syria, where a 2 1/2-year civil war has killed more than 100,000 people, according to the final report of a U.N. inquiry published on Thursday. U.N. investigators said the deadly nerve agent sarin was likely used in four incidents, in one case on a large scale. "The United Nations Mission concludes that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic," the final report by chief U.N. investigator Ake Sellstrom said. Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari and the opposition Syrian National Coalition did immediately comment on the 82-page report.
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| Tunisia's Islamists and opposition reach deal on premier Posted: 12 Dec 2013 03:02 PM PST  Tunisia's ruling Islamists and opposition parties reached a deal on Thursday to name a new prime minister to lead a caretaker administration until elections aimed at ending months of crisis. The deal on a new premier clears the way for the current government to step down later this month and end turmoil that has threatened to upset Tunisia's transition to full democracy three years after its "Arab Spring" uprising. Under a previous accord brokered by Tunisia's powerful UGTT labor movement, moderate Islamist party Ennahda has agreed to resign once the sides decide on a caretaker cabinet, finish a new constitution and set a date for elections. "There is an agreement, which will be presented tomorrow," Hussein Abassi, head of the UGTT, told reporters after weeks of negotiations.
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| Central African Republic humanitarian crisis mounts even as attacks ease Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:18 PM PST  By Emmanuel Braun BANGUI (Reuters) - As the base for French forces in Central African Republic, Bangui airport is one of the safest places in town. It is now also home to around 30,000 civilians who have fled fighting between Christian and Muslim militia. Even here, though, fear is palpable and access to the displaced, who are sprawled out across a large field or sheltering among rusting carcasses of abandoned airplanes, is controlled by Christian militia men and boys, some of whom are armed with machetes. An assault on Bangui last week by these Christian militia, aided by gunmen loyal to ousted President Francois Bozize, sparked waves of killings and reprisals that killed over 500 people and displaced over 100,000 in the capital alone.
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| Egyptian police fire teargas and water cannon on protesters Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:44 PM PST  Egyptian riot police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of pro-Islamist protesters demonstrating near the headquarters of the ministry of defense in Cairo on Thursday, security sources said. Egypt has been witnessing almost daily protests by supporters of elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi since the army removed him in July after mass protests against his rule. The United States said Egypt should uphold international standards when it dealt with such unrest. Mursi's removal opened the bloodiest chapter in Egypt's modern history.
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| U.N. Iran panel chair urges states to keep enforcing sanctions Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:26 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Australian chairman of the U.N. Security Council's Iran sanctions committee on Thursday urged the United Nations' 193 member states to continue enforcing U.N. sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program. Australia's U.N. Ambassador Gary Quinlan told the 15-nation Security Council that a November 24 interim deal between Iran and six world powers, which offers Iran limited sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, did not affect countries' legal obligations to implement U.N. measures. "It is only by a Security Council decision that these measures can be modified or terminated, and, until then, member states are obligated to enforce them." The council has imposed four rounds of U.N. sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt its nuclear enrichment program and other sensitive atomic activities that Western powers and their allies fear could help Iran to obtain the capability to produce weapons.
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| Thailand's self-exiled ex-PM may never return home Posted: 12 Dec 2013 05:14 PM PST  BANGKOK (AP) — Since being ousted as Thailand's prime minister in a 2006 military coup, Thaksin Shinawatra has been a very busy man. The billionaire bought and sold England's Manchester City football club, acquired a titanium mine in Zimbabwe, started a lottery in Uganda and acquired a Nicaraguan passport. He met with Vladimir Putin and Nelson Mandela.
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| Hollande on Brazil visit urges doubling two-way trade Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:58 PM PST  Brasília (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande said during a state visit Thursday to Brazil that he hoped the two countries would double their trade, with the defense and high-tech sectors feeding growth. France is the fifth biggest investor in Brazil, where around 600 French companies have set up shop. Hollande's comments came as he met Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at the start of a two-day state visit. "We have big ambitions, Brazil and France, to again double our trade in the coming years," he added, with Rousseff at his side.
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| N. Korea leader's 'traitor' uncle executed: KCNA Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:43 PM PST  Seoul (South Korea) (AFP) - North Korea has executed the uncle of its leader Kim Jong-Un after a shock purge, state news agency KCNA said Friday, branding the once-powerful Jang Song-Thaek "despicable human scum" and a "traitor for all ages". Jang was executed on Thursday shortly after a special military trial, KCNA reported, after committing such a "hideous crime as attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to grab the supreme power of our party and state". In a viciously-worded attack, the regime accused Jang of betraying the trust of both Kim Jong-Un and his father Kim Jong-Il, saying he had received "deeper trust" from the younger leader in particular.
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| UN inspectors confirm Syria chemical attack Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:42 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Chemical weapons were probably used in four locations in Syria this year, in addition to the confirmed attack near Damascus in August that forced the government to abandon its secret chemical stockpile, U.N. inspectors said in a report released Thursday. |
| UN report concludes chemical weapons used in Syria Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:36 PM PST  United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Chemical weapons have been used at least five times during the Syrian conflict and in some cases children have been slaughtered, according to a UN report released Thursday. The report cites "credible evidence" and "evidence consistent with the probable use of chemical weapons" in the Syrian sites of Ghouta, Khan Al Asal, Jobar, Saraqueb and Ashrafieh Sahnaya. But the UN said it could not corroborate their use in two of seven sites studied -- Bahhariyeh and Sheik Maqsood. "The United Nations Mission concludes that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic," said the report, prepared by a team of experts led by Swede Ake Sellstrom.
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| European response to Syrian refugees 'pitiful': Amnesty Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:26 PM PST  European leaders should "hang their heads with shame" over their treatment of Syrian refugees fleeing the country's brutal conflict, rights group Amnesty International said on Friday. "An international failure: The Syrian refugee crisis", the charity states that European Union (EU) member states have only offered around 12,000 places to Syrian refugees as part of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' goal of securing 30,000 places. "The EU has miserably failed to play its part in providing a safe haven to the refugees who have lost all but their lives," said Amnesty Secretary General Salil Shetty. Only 10 EU member states offered resettlement or humanitarian admission places to refugees from Syria, according to the report.
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| North Korea executes leader's uncle as a traitor Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:19 PM PST  PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday that it had executed Kim Jong Un's uncle as a traitor for trying to seize supreme power, a stunning end for the leader's former mentor, long considered the country's No. 2 official.
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| Gay rights rewind: India criminalizes homosexuality again Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:19 PM PST This week, the Indian Supreme Court restored a 19th century ban criminalizing homosexuality. That law, Section 377, was deemed unconstitutional by a lower court in 2009, but Wednesday's unexpected reversal placed the nation's gay community in fear of being harassed or arrested by police. |
| Guinea opposition says will sit in Assembly despite poll dispute Posted: 12 Dec 2013 03:55 PM PST  Opposition parties in Guinea said on Thursday they would take their seats in the National Assembly, ending a period of uncertainty that began when the supreme court rejected their challenge to September's election results. President Alpha Conde's party won a September 28 parliamentary election that was seen as a final step in the process of restoring civilian rule after a military coup in 2008. Opposition parties said the vote was flawed. The supreme court validated the provisional election results in mid-November, at which point opposition parties said they would make a decision whether to participate in the National Assembly.
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| Three Chinese men charged with stealing U.S. seed technology Posted: 12 Dec 2013 03:37 PM PST  By Carey Gillam KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Three Chinese nationals have been charged in two separate cases of trying to steal seed-technology, trade secrets under development in the United States, authorities said on Thursday. After a two-year investigation, a man working for a Chinese conglomerate was arrested on charges of stealing inbred corn seed from production fields in Iowa and Illinois and trying to smuggle it into China, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa Nicholas Klinefeldt said. The man, Mo Hailong, director of the international business of the Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group Co, a part of DBN Group, was in the United States legally. But prosecutors said Mo and others who were not named conspired to steal from several U.S. seed companies between September 2011 and October 2012.
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| Israel drops controversial Bedouin relocation plan Posted: 12 Dec 2013 03:34 PM PST  Israel is scrapping a controversial draft law to relocate thousands of Bedouin residents of the Negev desert, an official said Thursday. Benny Begin, tasked with implementing the so-called Prawer Plan, said he had recommended to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "end the debate on the law" in parliament.
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| Jang Song Thaek had been North Korea's No. 2 Posted: 12 Dec 2013 03:12 PM PST  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — While hereditary leader Kim Jong Un is the unquestioned ruler of North Korea, until last weekend his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, was thought to be the country's second-most-powerful figure, widely considered Kim's mentor and regent.
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| U.S. consulting allies after reports of North Korea execution Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:58 PM PST The United States is consulting Asian allies about reports that the uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was executed, a White House official said. North Korea said on Friday that Jang Song Thaek, Kim's uncle and previously considered the second most powerful man in the secretive state, has been executed after a special military tribunal found him guilty of treason. "If confirmed, this is another example of the extreme brutality of the North Korean regime," said Patrick Ventrell, a spokesman for the White House's National Security Council. "We are following developments in North Korea closely and consulting with our allies and partners in the region," he said. |
| AP PHOTOS: Argentine slum honors 'Blue Virgin' Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:53 PM PST  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Thousands of Paraguayan immigrants living along the polluted Riachuelo river in Argentina's capital celebrate their "Blue Virgin" every year with a grueling but joyful 10-hour procession that winds through every corner of their slum. Last year, their feast day's Mass was led by none other than Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has since become their beloved "slum pope."
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| Fake signer at Mandela event says he hallucinated Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:47 PM PST  JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial says he suffers from schizophrenia and hallucinated and saw angels while gesturing incoherently just 3 feet away from President Barack Obama and other world leaders, outraging deaf people worldwide who said his signs amounted to gibberish.
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| S. Africa fails to explain hiring of fake signer Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:41 PM PST JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial say he suffers from schizophrenia and hallucinated and saw angels while gesturing incoherently just 3 feet away from President Barack Obama and other world leaders, outraging deaf people worldwide who said his signs amounted to gibberish. |
| UN report finds 'probable' use of chem arms in Syria Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:41 PM PST New York (AFP) - Chemical weapons were probably used five times during the Syrian conflict, according to a report by UN inspectors. |
| North Korea says Jang Song Thaek, uncle of leader Kim Jong Un, executed Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:20 PM PST  North Korea said on Friday Jang Song Thaek, the uncle of leader Kim Jong Un and previously considered the second most powerful man in the secretive state, has been executed after a special military tribunal found him guilty of treason. "The accused Jang brought together undesirable forces and formed a faction as the boss of a modern day factional group for a long time and thus committed such hideous crime as attempting to overthrow the state," the North's official KCNA news agency said. The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Friday carried a photograph of Jang in handcuffs and being held by uniformed guards as he stood trial. Earlier this week North Korea stripped Jang of all posts and expelled him from the ruling Workers' Party, accusing him of criminal acts including mismanagement of the state financial system, womanizing and alcohol abuse.
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| Wallis Simpson's jewels sell at London auction Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:11 PM PST  LONDON (AP) — Sotheby's says jewels and precious possessions once belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor have fetched 620,125 pounds ($1.01 million) in a London auction.
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| Congo and M23 rebels sign peace agreements Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:08 PM PST NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Congo and the so-called M23 rebels signed a peace agreement Thursday that will see the insurgent group demobilize its fighters and transform itself into a political party. |
| Glasgow crash firm grounds 22 helicopters Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:03 PM PST  The British operator of a Eurocopter EC135 helicopter involved in a fatal crash in Glasgow said Thursday it had grounded its 22-strong fleet of the model after discovering a defect. The "precautionary measure" by Bond Air Services put one-third of Britain's police and ambulance helicopters out of action, according to the BBC. "Following an issue with the fuel indication system on one of our aircraft yesterday we temporarily suspended service operations whilst we undertook further technical investigations of our fleet of EC 135s," said a Bond statement. The news came as authorities in Scotland said another person had died from injuries sustained in last month's crash of a Bond-operated police helicopter, bringing the death toll to 10.
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| Mozambique releases shortlist of presidential candidates Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:01 PM PST  Mozambique's ruling Frelimo party on Thursday released a shortlist of three candidates ahead of next year's elections to succeed President Armando Guebuza. Party heavyweights narrowed the choice down to a trio of staunch Guebuza loyalists: Prime Minister Alberto Vaquina, 52, Agriculture Minister Jose Pacheco, 55, and Defence Minister Felipe Nhusse, 54. The party's decision-making authority selected the three after a meeting held on Wednesday, Damiao Jose told AFP. Guebuza, who took over from Joaquim Chissano in January 2005, is due to step down next year after two terms, the maximum allowed by the constitution.
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| Biden, Japan PM Abe discuss East China Sea dispute Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:00 PM PST  U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday discussed tensions with China in the East China Sea and stressed the importance of security cooperation between the United States, Japan and South Korea. China's declaration in late November of an "air defense zone" around disputed islands claimed by both China and Japan in the East China Sea has triggered turmoil in the region.
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| Kenya celebrates 50 years of freedom with challenges ahead Posted: 12 Dec 2013 01:57 PM PST  Kenyans marked half a century of independence from Britain on Thursday, celebrating progress of the regional economic powerhouse but also struggling to shake off a legacy of corruption, inequality and ethnic violence. Climbers were also scaling the snow-capped peak of Mount Kenya to raise a flag there too. In another echo of history, President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed crowds, as his father Jomo Kenyatta did in 1963, when he became the first Kenyan to lead the east African nation.
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| Desperate Syrians find little comfort in new homes Posted: 12 Dec 2013 01:53 PM PST  They fled air strikes and shelling, but many of Syria's three million refugees have found little comfort elsewhere, suffering in squalid camps and risking death to reach Europe's shores. In Lebanon, many crowd into makeshift shelters in agricultural fields that will soon be blanketed in thick snow, and in Egypt they have faced government crackdowns and deportation. A lucky few have found asylum in Sweden or Germany, but many more have ended up in the EU's poorest nation Bulgaria, held in overflowing shelters. Some of the estimated three million Syrian refugees are treading paths well-worn by economic migrants from Niger, Eritrea and elsewhere -- people fleeing poverty as much as conflict.
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| Sudanese children 'hostage' to warring parties Posted: 12 Dec 2013 01:50 PM PST  The medical needs of 165,000 Sudanese children are being held "hostage" by the warring parties in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, a senior United Nations official said on Thursday. Those children "are not accessing basic health services, including vaccination against measles and polio", Martin Mogwanja, deputy executive director for operations at the UN children's fund (UNICEF), told reporters after a four-day visit to Sudan. The youngsters are in rebel-held parts of the two states, where the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North began an uprising in 2011 fuelled by complaints of political and economic neglect.
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| Muslim anger mounts over Bangui 'revenge squads' Posted: 12 Dec 2013 01:47 PM PST  Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - The violence in Bangui had turned the Ali Baboro mosque into a makeshift morgue Thursday and as the number of mutilated bodies lined up outside grew, so did the desire for revenge. A woman wearing a deep purple veil over her hair cut through the crowd in front of the mosque, the heart of the Muslim community in the Central African capital's busy PK-5 district. French troops deployed in the Central African Republic last week in a bid to stop communal strife that had sparked global alarm and talk of a possible genocide. Their main target has been rogue fighters from the mainly Muslim Seleka group who have killed, raped and plundered in several parts of the country, Bangui included.
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| North Korea executes Kim Jong Un's uncle Posted: 12 Dec 2013 01:45 PM PST PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korean state media say Kim Jong Un's uncle has been executed, calling the leader's former mentor "worse than a dog." |
