| Almost 90 hurt as ceiling collapses at London theatre Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:35 PM PST  By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - Emergency services said nearly 90 people were injured on Thursday when part of the ceiling collapsed during a performance at a packed London theatre, bringing the city's West End entertainment district to a standstill. The audience was showered with masonry and debris following the incident at the Apollo Theatre, where about 720 people including many families were watching the hugely popular play "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time". Emergency services said 88 people were injured. ...
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| Yanukovich offers Ukraine protesters nothing as Russian aid starts Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:04 PM PST  By Richard Balmforth KIEV (Reuters) - A $15 billion Russian aid package for Ukraine began to take shape on Thursday as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich went public in defense of the deal, but offered no concessions to persuade thousands of protesters to leave the streets. In his first public appearance since agreeing the deal with Moscow, he argued that securing cheaper gas and credits from Russia had been the only way to avoid default. ...
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| Russia blocks U.N. statement condemning Syrian attacks: diplomats Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:17 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia blocked a U.N. Security Council statement on Thursday that would have condemned the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for recent missile and "barrel bomb" attacks on civilians, including children, U.N. diplomats said. The council's failure to approve the U.S.-drafted statement elicited an angry reaction from Washington. ...
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| Iran, six world powers resume expert talks on nuclear deal Posted: 19 Dec 2013 02:49 PM PST  By Tom Miles and Justyna Pawlak GENEVA/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Iran and six world powers resumed expert-level talks in Geneva on Thursday to work out how to put into practice a landmark deal obliging Tehran to curb its nuclear program in return for some relief from economic sanctions. That could mean the seven countries - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and Iran - would be ready to agree on a date when the accord goes fully into effect. Specifically, they would decide when western governments ease sanctions and how much prior verification of any Iranian curbs of its most sensitive nuclear work would be needed ahead of time. "We were at an advanced stage in Vienna," said a diplomat from one of the six world powers.
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| Secret detentions fuel Syrian 'campaign of terror': U.N. Posted: 19 Dec 2013 12:02 PM PST  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrian activists and other citizens have vanished into secret detention as part of a "widespread campaign of terror against the civilian population" and a tactic of war by the Damascus government, U.N. investigators said on Thursday. The state-run practice of enforced disappearances in Syria - abductions that are officially denied - is systematic enough to amount to a crime against humanity, they said in a report. ...
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| Amid austerity, EU agrees to boost defense cooperation Posted: 19 Dec 2013 04:01 PM PST  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to cooperate more closely on making falling defense budgets go further, while President Francois Hollande failed to win any promise of EU help to pay for French military operations in Africa. Austerity-hit EU countries have slashed spending in response to the financial crisis, scaling back on ships, tanks and fighter jets and undermining Europe's military strength, much to the concern of the United States, its most important ally. Cameron said Britain, one of Europe's most capable military powers but one that has also scaled back spending, would support cooperation but drew the line at a European army. "It isn't right for the European Union to have capabilities, armies, air forces and the rest of it.
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| London theatre ceiling collapse injures 88 Posted: 19 Dec 2013 04:33 PM PST  The ceiling of a packed London theatre collapsed on the audience during a performance on Thursday, wounding 88 people including children and leaving terrified theatregoers covered in blood and rubble. Rescuers commandeered three iconic red London double-decker buses to transport dozens of the wounded from the so-called "Theatreland" district to hospital.
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| Over 75 injured in partial London theater collapse Posted: 19 Dec 2013 04:26 PM PST  LONDON (AP) — Hunks of plaster and dust rained down on a packed audience when the ceiling of a London theater partially collapsed Thursday night. More than 75 people were injured — seven seriously, authorities said.
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| Nobody can stop Assad from running again: Syria Posted: 19 Dec 2013 04:25 PM PST  A senior Syrian official said nobody can stop embattled President Bashar al-Assad from seeking re-election and that a government team has been formed for peace talks, in an exclusive interview Thursday with AFP. "Nobody has the right to interfere and say he must run or he should not run," Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad said, shortly after Russia criticised statements that he wanted to seek another term in 2014. "President Assad in my opinion should be a candidate but he will decide when the time comes for him to decide," he said. "I shall ask the opposition: why a Syrian national does not have the right to be a candidate?
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| Theatergoer: "I started hearing noises, screaming" Posted: 19 Dec 2013 04:24 PM PST  American Scott Daniels was in the audience when London's Apollo Theatre partially collapsed.
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| Nigerian troops kill 13 Boko Haram gunmen: army Posted: 19 Dec 2013 04:14 PM PST  Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - The Nigerian army said Thursday it had killed 13 suspected Boko Haram gunmen in a shootout near the border with Cameroon after an armed robbery at a currency exchange business. "Our men succeeded in killing 13 suspected Boko Haram terrorists in a shootout near Digil village (in eastern Nigeria), where troops caught up with them after they robbed a bureau de change in Mubi," said Lieutenant Colonel Beyidi Martins, commander of a special army unit in Mubi. Mubi, a town in Adamawa state, has been hit by a series of attacks blamed on Boko Haram, a radical Islamist group that has killed thousands of people since 2009. According to traders who witnessed the latest attack, a gang of about 30 gunmen stormed the currency exchange at a local market in the city late Wednesday, killing five traders and carting away money in various currencies before their encounter with the army.
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| EU praises new bank body, but analysts skeptical Posted: 19 Dec 2013 04:11 PM PST  BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up Thursday to a new mechanism agreed on to handle ailing banks, but analysts likened it to a band aid that falls short of what is needed to stabilize the bloc's financial system.
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| New Mexico sues to block horse slaughter facility Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:51 PM PST New Mexico's attorney general sued on Thursday to block a horse slaughter plant scheduled to open next month from becoming the first facility of its kind to operate in the United States in more than five years. The move is the latest in an ongoing legal battle that has pitted animal protection groups and their allies against an industry fighting to regain a foothold in the United States. "Commercial horse slaughter is completely at odds with our traditions and our values as New Mexicans," New Mexico Attorney General Gary King said in a written statement. The lawsuit and an accompanying request for a temporary restraining order target Valley Meat Co., which plans to convert its cattle slaughterhouse in Roswell, New Mexico, to one processing horse meat starting on January 1. |
| Lawyer: Indian housekeeper did not extort money Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:42 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — The Indian housekeeper worked from morning until late at night, seven days week, for less than $3 an hour taking care of the two children of a diplomat. Unable to get a better deal, she made sure the children were cared for one day and walked out, her lawyer said Thursday.
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| India: 3 UN peacekeepers dead in South Sudan Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:40 PM PST  JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Less than three years after its creation, the world's newest country is beginning to fracture along ethnic lines in violence that has killed hundreds of people, including three U.N. peacekeepers. What could come next, some warn, is ethnic cleansing.
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| Indian envoy: 3 UN peacekeepers killed in SSudan Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:32 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — India's U.N. Ambassador Asoke Mukerji says three U.N. peacekeepers from his country were killed when armed youths breached a U.N. compound in South Sudan. |
| Attackers storm UN base in S. Sudan, kill 3 Indian peacekeepers Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:32 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (United States) (AFP) - Attackers stormed a UN base where civilians took refuge in South Sudan on Thursday, killing three Indian peacekeepers with other deaths feared, officials said. The United Nations has lost contact with the base at Akobo in Jonglei state and the fate of more than 30 ethnic Dinka civilians sheltering there was also unknown, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told AFP. The UN Security Council called emergency consultations for Friday on the mounting crisis in South Sudan where hundreds have been killed this week in battles between President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar. Three Indian peacekeepers were "targeted and killed" in the assault on Akobo, said India's UN ambassador Asoke Mukerji.
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| Over 80 injured in partial London theater collapse Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:28 PM PST LONDON (AP) — The ceiling of a London theater partially collapsed Thursday night, showering a packed audience with heaps of plaster, wood and dust. More than 80 people were injured — at least seven seriously — and several trapped theater-goers had to be rescued, authorities said. |
| U.N. says peacekeeping base in South Sudan attacked, deaths reported Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:27 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A United Nations peacekeeping base in South Sudan's Jonglei state was attacked on Thursday and the organization has received reports that some people have been killed, a senior U.N. official said. "Our base in Akobo, Jonglei state, was attacked and we have reports that lives are lost. The conflict, in which as many as 500 people have been killed according to local reports received by the United Nations, has alarmed South Sudan's neighbors. The U.N. Security Council will meet in New York on Friday to discuss the crisis in South Sudan.
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| Canada oil pipeline to Pacific clears major hurdle Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:15 PM PST  Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian regulators recommended approval Thursday of a controversial Can$7.9 billion (US$7.4 billion) pipeline to move crude from Alberta's oil sands to the Pacific Coast for shipping overseas.
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| Dozens injured at partial London theater collapse Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:05 PM PST  LONDON (AP) — The ceiling of a London theater partially collapsed Thursday night, showering a packed audience with heaps of plaster, wood and dust. More than 80 people were injured — at least seven seriously — and several trapped theater-goers had to be rescued, authorities said.
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| U.S. tries again to calm India over accused diplomat Posted: 19 Dec 2013 02:33 PM PST By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official called India's foreign secretary on Thursday in another attempt by Washington to tamp down the furor in India over the arrest and treatment of one of its diplomats in New York. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman spoke with Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh to stress the importance of the U.S.-Indian ties following the arrest and strip-search of the diplomat while in U.S. custody and to pledge to work through the complex issues of the case. India urged the United States to drop the charges against Devyani Khobragade of underpaying her housekeeper and visa fraud, suggesting that Secretary of State John Kerry's expression of regret on Wednesday over her treatment was not enough. Khobragade's arrest has provoked anger in India over the treatment of Indians abroad and it has fed into a pre-election ferment, with political parties of all colors voicing patriotic outrage. |
| Putin to pardon jailed tycoon Khodorkovsky Posted: 19 Dec 2013 02:14 PM PST  By Alexei Anishchuk and Timothy Heritage MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin is to pardon one of his best known opponents, oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, after a decade in jail in what may be a gesture to critics of his human rights record before Russia hosts the Winter Olympics. Putin made the surprise announcement that he would soon free Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, after a marathon news conference on Thursday in which he exuded confidence that he has reasserted his authority in the face of street protests. He said two members of the Pussy Riot protest group would also be freed, but it was the about-turn on Khodorkovsky, who was due for release next August, that grabbed most attention, lifting Moscow share prices on hopes it may mean investors have less cause to fear falling foul of Kremlin politics. Khodorkovsky, 50, fell out spectacularly with Putin a decade ago.
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| Iraq suffers disastrous year with key mediator absent Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:58 PM PST  With Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Germany for treatment, the country has been without a key mediator during a disastrous year of political conflict and surging violence. Talabani, a veteran Kurdish leader who is now 80, left Iraq for treatment on December 20 last year after suffering a stroke two days before, and has yet to return. His skills as a mediator, who has sought to bring together feuding politicians, Sunni and Shiite, Arab and Kurdish, during the repeated political crises that have plagued Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003, have been sorely missed in his absence. "Talabani's absence affected the political elite and relations between them in a major way, as he was able to adjust the political game and prevent things from getting out of control," said Ihsan al-Shammari, a political science professor at Baghdad University.
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| London theater partially collapses; dozens injured Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:51 PM PST LONDON (AP) — A central London theater packed with about 700 people partially collapsed Thursday night during a performance at the height of the Christmas season, injuring more than 40 people, authorities said. |
| EU's Ashton hails unique peace effort by Serbia, Kosovo PMs Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:44 PM PST  As the EU readied to open its door to Serbia in reward for easing ties with Kosovo, the bloc's chief diplomat Catherine Ashton on Thursday hailed the premiers of both sides for a peace drive that could foster regional stability. After 200 hours of talks at 20 meetings in Ashton's sixth-storey Brussels office, the work done by the prime ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, Hashim Thaci and Ivica Dacic, "gives a certainty to the future" in the Balkans, she said. The former foes showed "a willingness to work through important and difficult issues, both respectful of their own red lines but very aware of each others' red lines too," Ashton told a small group of journalists. The culmination of the peace drive will be endorsed by European Union leaders at a two-day summit Thursday and Friday, through a formal agreement to start EU membership talks in January with Serbia, which applied for entry back in 2009.
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| Chesapeake fined $3.2 million for West Virginia water violations Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:43 PM PST  (Reuters) - U.S. federal regulators on Thursday said oil and gas company Chesapeake Energy Corp will pay a civil penalty of $3.2 million to settle Clean Water Act violations in West Virginia where it drills in the Marcellus Shale. Chesapeake will also pay an estimated $6.5 million to restore streams and wetlands. The U.S. oil and gas company allegedly dumped rocks, sand and dirt into wetlands while building drill sites and roads, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice. ...
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| Cyprus passes 1st post-bailout budget Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:39 PM PST NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus' parliament has approved the 2014 state budget, the country's first after agreeing to a painful rescue deal earlier this year that saved it from bankruptcy. |
| Egypt court rulings pave way for Shafik return Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:36 PM PST  By Tom Perry and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, will soon be free to return from self-imposed exile and perhaps make a political comeback after Egyptian courts on Thursday acquitted him in one corruption case and shelved another. Shafik left Egypt last year after being defeated in the presidential election by Mohamed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood politician since overthrown by the army and now on trial for conspiracy and inciting violence while in office. U.S. ...
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| Putin to pardon Khodorkovsky after decade in jail Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:36 PM PST  President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that he would pardon ex-oil tycoon and bitter Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a move that should see Russia's most famous prisoner freed after more than a decade behind bars. The shock announcement could finally draw the curtain on the most notorious legal case in post-Soviet Russian history and came as Russia comes under even greater international scrutiny in the run-up to the Winter Olympic Games in February. Khodorkovsky's imprisonment on embezzlement and fraud convictions in jails including a Siberian penal colony has dented Russia's investment climate and become a symbol of the erosion of human rights under Putin. Putin revealed after his marathon annual news conference that Khodorkovsky, 50, had for the first time written a request for a pardon, citing humanitarian circumstances as his mother is ill.
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| 20 to 40 injured at partial London theater collapse Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:35 PM PST LONDON (AP) — London authorities say between 20 and 40 people have been injured at a theater which partially collapsed during a packed performance of a show during the height of the Christmas season. |
| Britain 'inappropriately involved' in rendition: inquiry Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:33 PM PST  There is evidence that Britain was "inappropriately involved" in the rendition and mistreatment of terror suspects, an official inquiry reported on Thursday. British intelligence officers were aware of inappropriate interrogation techniques and mistreatment of prisoners by foreign partners, The Detainee Inquiry found after a three-year probe. The agents were reluctant to do anything which would jeopardise relations with allies such as the United States, it said. Former appeal court judge Peter Gibson, who led the inquiry, told reporters: "It does appear from the documents that the United Kingdom may have been inappropriately involved in some renditions.
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| Pardon shows Putin no longer fears jailed tycoon Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:31 PM PST  Vladimir Putin's surprise promise to pardon jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky shows the Russian leader no longer fears his old rival or worries that the former billionaire can build an opposition force. Khodorkovsky was not only Russia's richest man and a Western investment community darling but also viewed as a possible Kremlin successor who openly funded parties opposed to Putin's increasingly dominant rule. "Khodorkovsky's arrest marked a turning point in Russia's development. But this is a signal that Putin no longer views Khodorkovsky as a threat."
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| UN troops missing as contact lost with S. Sudan base Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:26 PM PST  The United Nations said it has lost contact with a South Sudan base that was stormed by attackers Thursday and at least three peacekeepers and civilian staff are unaccounted for. UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said 40 Indian peacekeepers at the base at Akobo in Jonglei state had been moved to a nearby South Sudan army camp, but that three peacekeepers and possibly one civilian worker were missing. The fate of more than 30 ethnic Dinka civilians who had taken refuge at the Akobo base was also not known, Haq added. "We are no longer in contact with the Akobo base," Haq said.
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| How the World’s Newest Country Is Destroying Itself Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:26 PM PST The violence the erupted this week in South Sudan following an apparent coup casts a shadow over the nascent country's future. As the fighting spreads—roughly 500 people are already dead amid reports of grisly ethnic killings—foreign observers are warning of civil war. |
