| Senator McCain meets Ukrainian protest leaders amid rival rallies Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:01 PM PST  By Gabriela Baczynska and Alissa de Carbonnel KIEV (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain met Ukrainian opposition leaders in Kiev on Saturday and voiced support for protesters camped out for weeks in the capital, a move sure to anger Moscow for what it sees as Western meddling in its backyard. The street protests started after the November 21 decision by President Viktor Yanukovich - seeking the best possible deal for Ukraine to stave off bankruptcy - to walk away from a trade pact with Europe at the last minute and seek closer ties with its old Soviet master. McCain was due to be joined by the chairman of the Senate's Europe subcommittee, Chris Murphy, on Sunday. "I am proud of the people of Ukraine and their steadfast efforts for democracy," McCain told reporters after meeting the country's Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara.
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| U.S., Britain have not helped Syrian rebels enough, Saudi prince says Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:13 PM PST  By John Irish MONACO (Reuters) - Opponents of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have been at an impossible disadvantage since the start of the Syrian conflict because the United States and Britain refused to help them, an influential Saudi Arabian prince said on Saturday. The United States and Britain suspended non-lethal aid to northern Syria on Thursday after reports that Islamic Front - a union of six major rebel groups - had taken buildings belonging to the Free Syrian Army's (FSA) Syrian Military Council on the border with Turkey. Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki bin Faisal criticized the decision, saying the two countries had left the moderate FSA to fend for itself. "What's more damaging is that since the beginning of this conflict, since the FSA arose as a response to Assad's impunity, Britain and the U.S. did not come forward and provide the necessary aid to allow it to defend itself and the Syrian people from Assad's killing machine," Prince Turki told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Policy Conference in Monaco.
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| Tunisian parties agree on new premier to lead until elections Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:25 PM PST  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's ruling Islamists and opposition parties agreed on Saturday to name the country's current industry minister as prime minister of a caretaker technocrat cabinet to govern until elections next year. The appointment is the first step in an agreement that will see moderate Islamist party Ennahda hand over power in the next few weeks to end a crisis that threatened Tunisia's transition to democracy after its 2011 uprising. Three years after its protests against autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali inspired Arab uprisings elsewhere, Tunisia has been struggling to overcome disputes over the role of Islam in one of the Arab world's most secular countries. After weeks of wrangling, parties agreed to name Mehdi Jomaa, an aerospace engineer by training, as premier in a deal between Islamist party Ennahda and a coalition of secular parties led by a former Ben Ali official.
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| Suspected grenade attack on Kenyan bus kills four: police Posted: 14 Dec 2013 04:56 PM PST  A suspected grenade attack on a minibus in Kenya's capital on Saturday killed at least four people near a Somali-dominated area of the city, police said, an incident that mirrors explosions last year that were blamed on Somali militants. Last year a series of such attacks in and around the Eastleigh area of Nairobi were blamed on Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist group. Al Shabaab said its gunmen carried out the mall attack to force Kenya to withdraw troops from Somalia where they are part of an African peacekeeping mission battling with the Islamists. "So far I can confirm that four people have died in the explosion," Benson Kibui, Nairobi county police commander, told Reuters, without giving details.
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| France says "pessimistic" on Syria, has doubts about peace talks Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:25 PM PST  France's foreign minister said on Saturday he was "pessimistic" about the situation in Syria and had great doubts about the success of a proposed peace conference to be held in Switzerland next month. "In Syria, I am sadly quite pessimistic," Laurent Fabius told delegates at the World Policy Conference in Monaco. France, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's fiercest critics, was the first Western power to provided non-lethal military aid to the Free Syrian Army, while it was also the first Western state to recognize the Syrian National Coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people. About 30 ministers from big powers, regional countries and others are due to gather in the Swiss resort of Montreux on January 22 to give their blessing to the negotiations between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and rebels fighting to oust him.
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| Yemen says air strike targeted al Qaeda leaders Posted: 14 Dec 2013 01:17 PM PST Yemen said senior al Qaeda militants were targeted in Thursday's air strike in al-Bayda province, the first government statement on an incident which local officials said killed 15 people on their way to a wedding. The local officials had said a wedding party was hit in the strike in the south of Yemen after being mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy, and five people were also injured. The government's statement, issued late on Friday, made no mention of the wedding or civilian casualties. "An air strike was carried out at about 4:30 in the afternoon of (Thursday), targeting a car belonging to a leader," an official of the government's security committee was quoted as saying in the statement carried by the state news agency. |
| Brazil hit by fourth fatal World Cup stadium accident Posted: 14 Dec 2013 04:56 PM PST  Manaus (Brazil) (AFP) - Brazil was rocked Saturday by a fourth fatal World Cup stadium accident as a young construction worker fell to his death, heightening safety worries barely six months from kick-off. The latest fatality, at the Manaus Arena in the northern Amazonia region, will add scrutiny to the host nation's preparations, with some stadiums behind schedule and extra shifts being worked in a push to be ready for the football extravaganza. The accident brought to five the number of deaths at event sites, and comes two weeks after two people died at the Sao Paulo stadium scheduled to host the June 12 opening match between Brazil and Croatia. In an unrelated incident, a construction worker died of a heart attack while working on a new convention centre near to the stadium amid allegations from his family that he was overworked.
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| Phillips key to QPR's promotion push Posted: 14 Dec 2013 04:41 PM PST  QPR assistant manager Kevin Bond believes the form of Matt Phillips will be crucial to his side's bid for promotion to the Premier League. Harry Redknapp's team moved two points clear at the top of the Championship on Saturday after winger Phillips inspired a 2-0 win at his former club Blackpool. Phillips, who moved to QPR in pre-season for £5 million ($8.14 million, 5.9 million euros), paid back some of his fee when he opened the scoring in the 61st minute before setting up Charlie Austin to seal the points in the 73rd minute.
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| Storm brings heavy snowfalls to Midwest, Northeast Posted: 14 Dec 2013 04:38 PM PST  By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - Another round of wintry weather battered the U.S. Midwest and East Coast on Saturday as a massive storm spanning more than 1,000 miles dumped heavy snow, snarling air traffic and making roads treacherous. Airlines reported weather-related delays and cancellations, with major airports in Chicago, Washington, New York City and Newark, New Jersey, scrubbing dozens of flights, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and FlightStats.com. The fast-moving snowstorm stretched from Missouri to Maine, as steady rain fell in the southeastern states. "A band of very heavy snow with snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches an hour will move from south to north across northern New England tonight," said Brooke Taber, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
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| Tunisia industry minister chosen to head new govt Posted: 14 Dec 2013 04:35 PM PST  Tunisia's political parties chose Industry Minister Mehdi Jomaa Saturday to head a government of independent figures aimed at pulling the country out of a months-long crisis, the principal mediator said. "Dialogue and discussions led to a vote and the choice of Mehdi Jomaa as the candidate for the post of head of government," said Houcine Abassi, secretary general of the powerful UGTT trade union. "Our people have waited for a long time, but despite the difficulties and obstacles... this dialogue has not failed," he said, adding his "congratulations to Tunisia." Of the 21 parties participating in the talks, only the Nidaa Tounes party rejected the choice and abstained in the vote.
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| Mandela makes final journey home in SAfrica Posted: 14 Dec 2013 04:11 PM PST QUNU, South Africa (AP) — Nelson Mandela came home Saturday. |
| China successfully soft-lands probe on the moon Posted: 14 Dec 2013 03:50 PM PST  BEIJING (AP) — China on Saturday successfully carried out the world's first soft landing of a space probe on the moon in nearly four decades, state media said, the next stage in an ambitious space program that aims to eventually put a Chinese astronaut on the moon.
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| China deploys 'Jade Rabbit' rover on moon: Xinhua Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:47 PM PST  China has deployed its lunar rover vehicle on the surface of the moon, state media said early Sunday, after carrying out the first soft landing on Earth's satellite since 1976 in a major step for the country's space programme. The Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, rover was deployed on the moon's surface at 4:35 am (2035 GMT), several hours after the Chang'e-3 probe landed, according to official news agency Xinhua. The deployment makes China the third country to complete a lunar rover mission, after the United States and the former Soviet Union. Citing the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, Xinhua said the rover "has touched the lunar surface." The agency tweeted an image, apparently taken from the probe, showing the rover leaving tracks in the dust behind it as it rolled away.
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| Syria's moderate opposition in 'serious difficulty': France Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:37 PM PST  French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Saturday that the moderate opposition to the Syrian regime was in "serious difficulty" and that long-delayed peace talks aimed at ending the crisis were in trouble. "On Syria, I'm unfortunately rather pessimistic," Fabius said. "The moderate opposition that we support is in serious difficulty," he said, voicing "doubts" over the prospects of peace talks known as "Geneva 2" that mediators have been trying to organise to negotiate an end to the conflict. Fabius was speaking in Monaco as he left the World Policy Conference, a meeting of political and business leaders.
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| West Brom sack manager Clarke Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:37 PM PST  Steve Clarke was sacked as West Brom manager on Saturday just hours after the team's 1-0 defeat at Cardiff. The loss, which was their fourth in a row in the Premier League, left the Baggies two points off the relegation places. "We have reluctantly come to the decision to relieve Steve of his duties after very careful consideration," said West Brom technical director Richard Garlick. The 50-year-old Clarke, a former assistant coach at Chelsea and Liverpool, took over at West Brom in June 2012.
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| Worker dies at World Cup stadium construction site Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:27 PM PST  SAO PAULO (AP) — A construction worker fell to his death Saturday from the roof of a World Cup stadium being built in the jungle city of Manaus, marking the latest setback to hit Brazil before it hosts football's showcase event next year.
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| Desmond Tutu says he will attend Mandela funeral Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:19 PM PST  JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu changed course Saturday night and announced plans to attend the funeral of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela after all.
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| C.Africa president offers talks as sectarian violence mounts Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:14 PM PST  Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - The Central African Republic's president offered Saturday to hold talks with Christian militia groups in efforts to end spiralling sectarian violence that has killed hundreds of people in a week. Michel Djotodia, who became the majority Christian country's first Muslim leader in a March coup, told Radio France Internationale that he was ready to "extend his hand" and "talk" to militia groups. Violence between Christians and Muslims has been on the rise since the coup, but the latest carnage has seen several hundred people killed over the past week, prompting United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon and local authorities to plead for an end to the atrocities. UN refugee agency UNHCR said more than 600 people were killed, including 450 in the capital, Bangui, and 160 in other parts of the country.
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| Mandela's long walk nears journey's end Posted: 14 Dec 2013 02:06 PM PST By Ed Cropley QUNU, South Africa (Reuters) - The body of Nelson Mandela arrived on Saturday at his ancestral home in the rolling hills of South Africa's Eastern Cape and was greeted by singing, dancing locals ahead of the anti-apartheid leader's state funeral set for the following day. As the hearse bearing South Africa's first black president appeared on the horizon, crowds by the road broke into "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (God Bless Africa), the evocative national anthem adopted after the end of apartheid in 1994. "I'm so excited and at the same time I'm so hurt because I'm seeing him for the last time," said grandmother Victoria Ntsingo, as military helicopters escorting the cortege clattered overhead. Mandela, who died on December 5 aged 95, will be buried on Sunday in his family homestead at Qunu, a hamlet of a few hundred houses 700 km (450 miles) south of Johannesburg. |
| US church bells toll for Newtown massacre anniversary Posted: 14 Dec 2013 01:42 PM PST  Newtown (United States) (AFP) - Church bells tolled 26 times in Newtown, Connecticut Saturday for the 20 schoolchildren and six adults massacred exactly a year earlier, as US President Barack Obama urged tougher gun controls. On December 14, 2012, a heavily armed man entered an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut and, within 10 minutes, killed 26 people before taking his own life. The gunman later identified as 20-year-old Adam Lanza had also shot his mother dead earlier that morning. In Newtown, there was no high-profile memorial, and officials asked news organizations to keep their distance to allow residents to mourn the anniversary in private.
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| Tutu going to Mandela's funeral after spat over invitation Posted: 14 Dec 2013 01:40 PM PST  By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu will attend the funeral on Sunday of his friend and fellow anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, his spokesman said on Saturday, signaling a change of heart after a dispute over his invitation. Tutu, like Mandela a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, had earlier said he would not be going to the burial service in Qunu in Eastern Cape province because he had not received a formal invitation or any indication that he was on the guest list. Britain's Prince Charles and U.S. civil rights activist Jessie Jackson are among a selected group of foreign dignitaries who will be attending the funeral ceremony for Mandela, South Africa's first black president who died on December 5 aged 95. The government said no specific invitation had been issued to Tutu, but added the official accreditation he had used at an memorial for Mandela in Johannesburg on Tuesday would allow him to attend the funeral if he wished, and he was welcome to do so.
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| Thousands brave Rio's dirty waters in swim races Posted: 14 Dec 2013 01:25 PM PST  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Thousands of amateur swimmers took to the brackish waters of Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach Saturday for an open-sea race that also brought out demonstrators calling for a thorough cleanup of the Olympic city's chronically polluted waterways.
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| 4 top Ukraine officials investigated in crackdown Posted: 14 Dec 2013 01:19 PM PST  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities on Saturday attempted to appease anti-government protesters who have been demonstrating in the center of the capital for weeks by opening investigations against four top officials over the violent break-up of a small rally last month.
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| Nordic warships ready mission to help collect Syria chemical arms Posted: 14 Dec 2013 01:18 PM PST  Limassol (Cyprus) (AFP) - A Danish and a Norwegian frigate are anchored in the Cypriot port of Limassol awaiting orders to sail for Syria and help collect part of the regime's deadly chemical arsenal. When the call comes, they will escort two cargo ships -- one from each country -- to Syria's Latakia, where they will take on chemical agents, as set out in an Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons road map. A deal for Syria to surrender its chemical arsenal narrowly averted US airstrikes on the country, after Washington said 1,400 people were gassed in the Ghouta area near Damascus in August. Under the plan, the ships must leave Syria before December 31.
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| China's first lunar rover lands on moon Posted: 14 Dec 2013 01:14 PM PST  China on Saturday carried out the first soft landing on the moon since 1976, joining the United States and former Soviet Union in accomplishing the feat, which marks a major step for Beijing's ambitious space programme. The emerging superpower is also set to become the third country to complete a lunar rover mission when it deploys its Yutu, or Jade Rabbit vehicle. Scientists burst into applause as a computer-generated image representing the spacecraft, named Chang'e-3, was seen landing on the moon's surface via screens at a Beijing control centre, state broadcaster Chinese Central Television (CCTV) showed. This makes China the world's third nation to achieve a lunar soft landing," said the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in an online post on the mission's official page on Sina Weibo, a Chinese Twitter equivalent.
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| Bachelet set to re-win presidency, rule new Chile Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:54 PM PST  SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Michelle Bachelet seems almost certain to win the presidency on Sunday, but she'll face a dramatically different Chile if she returns to power.
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| Tutu reverses course, says will attend Mandela burial Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:52 PM PST  South African peace icon Desmond Tutu's office said Saturday he would attend Nelson Mandela's funeral after all, after earlier saying he had cancelled his trip because he was not invited to his old friend's burial. "Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu will be travelling to Qunu early tomorrow to attend Tata's funeral," the Anglican cleric's office said in a brief statement. "Tata", or father, is one of the names by which Mandela is affectionately known in South Africa. Earlier, Tutu -- who has at times been openly critical of the South African government and Mandela's family -- had said he was not going to the burial because he was not invited.
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| Egypt: 3 Christians sentenced for killing a Muslim Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:52 PM PST CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian criminal court convicted three Christians Saturday of killing a Muslim man, a judicial official and the state news agency said, in a dispute that that left nine people dead in some of this year's worst sectarian violence. |
| UN: 2 peacekeepers killed, several wounded in Mali Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:49 PM PST  DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A bombing killed at least two U.N. peacekeepers in Mali and seriously wounded several others in the troubled northern city of Kidal, U.N. officials said Saturday.
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| Gaza flooding drives 40,000 from their homes Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:40 PM PST  GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Flooding from heavy rains forced some 40,000 Gaza Strip residents from their homes, including thousands who were taken to safety in boats and military trucks, officials said Saturday.
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| Four killed in explosion on bus in Kenya capital Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:31 PM PST  An explosion on a bus in Nairobi killed four people and wounded 36 Saturday in the fourth attack to rock the week marking the 50th anniversary of Kenya's independence. "We are investigating to establish if the explosion was caused by a grenade or an improvised explosive device," said Benson Kibue, Nairobi area police chief, as earlier reports had said it was caused by a grenade.
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| Guangzhou down Al Ahly to set up Bayern clash Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:22 PM PST  Agadir (Morocco) (AFP) - China's Guangzhou Evergrande set-up a mouthwatering Club World Cup semi-final against European champions Bayern Munich on Saturday after seeing off Egypt's Al Ahly 2-0. Brazilian midfielder Elkeson and Argentina's Dario Conca grabbed second half goals for the Asian champions in their quarter-final tie. Elkeson opened the scoring in the 49th minute, slotting the ball home after Brazilian compatriot Muriqui's shot had come off the post. Muriqui was also at the heart of Guangzhou's second goal in the 67th minute.
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| Gazan wounded by Israeli gunfire on border Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:20 PM PST  Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip was wounded by Israeli gunfire on Saturday evening after approaching the border fence, sources on both sides said. A Hamas health ministry official told AFP, without elaborating, that the man was hit east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza by Israeli tank fire. Eyewitnesses said Israeli tanks and one bulldozer were near the border at the time. The army confirmed the incident, with a spokeswoman telling AFP "a suspect approached the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip and was engaged in suspicious activity along the fence."
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| Wilkinson hands Toulon bonus point win against Exeter Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:10 PM PST  Former England great Jonny Wilkinson guaranteed European Cup holders Toulon what could be a crucial bonus point when he scored their fourth try in a 32-20 win over English side Exeter on Saturday in their Pool 2 clash. The 34-year-old former England fly-half came on with just over 20 minutes remaining and the match evenly-balanced at 18-13 in Toulon's favour, but took the game away from his compatriots creating a try and then scoring one himself. Toulon, who lead Cardiff Blues by two points ahead of the pair's decisive meeting in the south of France in early January, had got off to a good start. A swift passing movement down the blindside set up David Smith for their first try in the 12th minute.
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| Suicide attack in Mali kills two Senegalese soldiers Posted: 14 Dec 2013 12:06 PM PST  A suicide attack on UN forces in northern Mali on Saturday killed two Senegalese soldiers in what a Malian jihadist leader said was retaliation for African countries' support of a French army operation against Islamist militants. A car laden with explosives barrelled into the Malian Bank of Solidarity in the city of Kidal that was guarded by troops from a UN peacekeeping force known as MINUSMA. Five sustained serious injuries -- three peacekeepers and two Malian soldiers -- and they were evacuated to Gao, the largest city of northern Mali, the statement said. A Malian jihadist, Sultan Ould Badi, claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to AFP, calling it payback for African countries' military support for French operations on the continent.
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