| Western, Arab states pledge $2.4 billion in Syria aid Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:33 AM PST  By Sylvia Westall and Warren Strobel KUWAIT (Reuters) - Western and Gulf Arab nations pledged more than $2.4 billion on Wednesday for U.N. aid efforts in Syria, where a near three-year civil war has left millions of people hungry, ailing or displaced. The pledge arose from a U.N. appeal for $6.5 billion in 2014, which was launched last month and is the largest in the organization's history. The world body estimates the conflict has reversed development gains in Syria by 35 years, with half its people now living in poverty. But only around 70 percent of $1.5 billion pledged at a similar meeting last year has reached U.N. coffers, hinting at donor fatigue with no end to the bloodshed on the horizon.
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| Egypt voters overwhelmingly back constitution: official sources Posted: 15 Jan 2014 05:03 PM PST  By Maggie Fick and Ali Abdelaty CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians who voted in a referendum overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, official sources said, citing early results of a ballot that could set the stage for army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to declare his candidacy for president. About 90 percent of voters approved the constitution, the state news agency and a government official said. It comes as no surprise: the constitution won wide support among Egyptians who backed the army overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi in July, and there was little or no trace of a no campaign as the state presses a campaign on dissent. Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, which is sure to dispute the official numbers, had called for a boycott of the two-day vote, seeing it as part of a coup against a leader freely elected 18 months ago.
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| North Korea warns South and U.S. over 'provocative' drills Posted: 15 Jan 2014 04:29 PM PST  North Korea has demanded South Korea and the United States halt their annual military drills due in February and March, saying they were a direct provocation to Pyongyang, in a statement that suggested a re-run of a sharp escalation in tensions last year. In 2013, Pyongyang said it would retaliate against any hostile moves by striking at the United States, Japan and South Korea, triggering a military buildup on the Korean peninsula and months of fiery rhetoric. The reclusive North has regularly charged that annual drills such as "Key Resolve" and "Ulchi-Freedom-Guardian" staged by South Korea and United States are a prelude to invasion. "We sternly warn the U.S. and the South Korean authorities to stop the dangerous military exercises which may push the situation on the peninsula and the north-south ties to a catastrophe," state news agency KCNA quoted a body in charge of the North's efforts to promote Korean unification as saying.
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| U.N. nuclear agency board to meet next week on Iran deal Posted: 15 Jan 2014 10:33 AM PST  The 35-nation governing board of the U.N. nuclear agency will meet next week to discuss its role in verifying the implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, it said on Wednesday. Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he had requested a board meeting to be held on January 24, four days after the six-month accord is due to start taking effect. The IAEA will have a pivotal role in checking that Iran lives up to its part of the deal with the United States, France, Russia, Britain, China and Germany to curb its nuclear activity in return for some sanctions easing. Diplomats say the IAEA, which will increase the frequency of inspections in Iran, is likely to need to send more staff there and faces extra costs of roughly 5 million euros, some of which will need to be funded through voluntary member state contributions.
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| Chinese inexperience a factor in warships' near-miss : U.S. admiral Posted: 15 Jan 2014 04:56 PM PST  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chinese operational inexperience and communications difficulties on both sides contributed to a near-collision between the USS Cowpens and a Chinese warship in the South China Sea last month, the head of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific said on Wednesday. Admiral Samuel Locklear, the head of U.S. Pacific Command, told a Navy conference the Cowpens, a guided missile cruiser, was monitoring China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, as it conducted operations in international waters for the first time when the incident occurred. "I believe that there was ... a lack of experience on some of their smaller ships and I think we have to understand that for now," Locklear told the Surface Navy Association during a question and answer session at its national symposium. Language barriers were also a factor, Locklear said, with U.S. sailors hailing the Chinese ship in English and the Chinese having to address the Americans in sometimes limited English.
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| Venezuela's Maduro names new finance minister, cenbank head Posted: 15 Jan 2014 04:37 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he was shaking up his top economic team, with public banking minister Rodolfo Torres to take over the finance portfolio and Nelson Merentes to return as central bank head. Maduro said Rafael Ramirez would remain as president of state oil company PDVSA, minister of energy and vice president of economic affairs. ...
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| Wet, wetter; dry, drier: U.S. oceanographer has hit with climate-change haiku Posted: 15 Jan 2014 04:28 PM PST An American oceanographer who helped write an international report on climate change has condensed several of its key findings - such as how choices made today may shape the future world - into a collection of succinct poems in the Haiku style. The poems came to Gregory Johnson, a 20-year veteran of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as he pored over an executive summary of "Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis," while holed up in his Seattle home on a recent weekend with the flu, he said. "I thought that if I tried distilling these ideas into haiku, maybe that would help fix them in my mind," said Johnson, a lead author on the chapter of the report dealing with the effects of global warming on oceans. "This was not intended for anything but my own personal consumption." After penning the poems and painting watercolors accompanying each of them, Johnson, heartened by feedback from friends and family, agreed to publish them on the website of the Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based environmental policy think-tank. |
| Egypt awaits outcome of key electoral test after Morsi ouster Posted: 15 Jan 2014 04:16 PM PST  Egypt on Wednesday wrapped up a two-day referendum on a new constitution that could set up a presidential bid by the army chief who toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Initial tallies reported by state media suggested at least 90 percent of voters approved the constitution, but the turnout remained unclear. Officials have said that army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who toppled Morsi in July, will closely monitor turnout as he mulls standing for the presidency himself in an election promised for later this year. Sisi, reviled by Morsi's supporters, has said he is prepared to run for president, if there is enough popular support, and the referendum provides the first concrete test.
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| Alaska mine threatens salmon, native cultures -U.S. agency Posted: 15 Jan 2014 04:14 PM PST  By Nicole Mordant VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed poses serious risks to salmon and native cultures in this pristine corner of southwest Alaska, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a report released on Wednesday. The EPA said a mine could destroy up to 94 miles of salmon-supporting streams and thousands of acres of wetlands, ponds and lakes. Polluted water from the mine site could enter streams, causing widespread damage in a region that produces nearly 50 percent of the world's wild sockeye salmon, the EPA said. The Bristol Bay region supports all five species of Pacific salmon found in North America, which include sockeye, Chinook, chum, coho and pink salmon.
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| Saudi-Qatar rivalry divides Syrian opposition Posted: 15 Jan 2014 03:49 PM PST  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Rivalry between Qatar and Saudi Arabia has fuelled wrangling within the Syrian opposition that threatens to prevent a united rebel delegation attending international peace talks next week. Sources in the Syrian National Coalition and diplomats from foreign powers backing the rebels said it remains unclear whether those divisions can be overcome by Friday, when the 120-member Coalition is expected to vote on whether to take part in the conference in Switzerland, known as Geneva-2. ...
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| Federal forces regain some ground in troubled Michoacan Posted: 15 Jan 2014 03:29 PM PST  Apatzingan (Mexico) (AFP) - Mexican federal police and army troops had three cities in the country's west under control Wednesday after seizing a drug cartel's bastion and clashing with vigilantes refusing to disarm. Thousands of troops and police held their ground in the Michoacan state cities of Apatzingan (population 120,000), seen as a bastion of the Knights Templars cartel, Uruapan (315,000) and Mugica (45,000). In Apatzingan, about 2,000 federal agents disarmed 200 members of the town police suspected to work for the Knights Templars. "They broke the window, came in, sprinkled gasoline around and then fled the scene," police commander Humberto Martinez told AFP.
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| Weird and wonderful world of British royal gifts revealed Posted: 15 Jan 2014 03:19 PM PST  A garden gnome, a chocolate royal coach and a falconry glove were among the gifts presented to Britain's royal household last year, it was revealed on Wednesday. Queen Elizabeth II was the lucky recipient of a gold jewelled photo frame set on a jewelled ostrich egg when Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, president of the United Arab Emirates, made a state visit last April, according to an official list released by officials at Buckingham Palace and Clarence House. She also received four enamelled scarab beetles from the Bangladeshi high commissioner, as well as some more unusual gifts including chocolate models of Windsor Castle and the family's Irish state coach.
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| $2.4 billion in aid pledged for war-ravaged Syria Posted: 15 Jan 2014 03:09 PM PST  KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Western nations and their Gulf Arab allies led the promises of support at a fundraising conference in Kuwait on Wednesday that generated pledges of at least $2.4 billion to alleviate the suffering of Syrians affected by the country's relentless civil war.
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| US collegians on baseball diplomacy tour in Cuba Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:50 PM PST  HAVANA (AP) — Balls and strikes, not politics, ruled the day Wednesday at a baseball diamond in Havana, as last year's NCAA Division II championship team from the University of Tampa played an exhibition game against a Cuban youth squad.
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| Spanish protesters riot in Madrid, 11 people hurt Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:49 PM PST  A Madrid demonstration in sympathy with protests in the northern Spanish city of Burgos against a local government plan to convert a street into a tree-lined boulevard turned violent on Wednesday, leading to 11 arrests and 11 injuries. Rioters tossed smoke bombs, threw chairs from street terraces and burned garbage containers in central Madrid after a march that began in the capital's Puerta del Sol square and ended near the ruling conservative People's Party (PP) central headquarters. It was one of 46 protests across Spanish cities on Wednesday against the state-financed project in Burgos that has stoked public fury. The local government has put the plan on hold in light of the protests.
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| New nuke scandal: 34 officers accused of cheating Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:45 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — In a stunning setback for a nuclear missile force already beset by missteps and leadership lapses, the Air Force disclosed on Wednesday that 34 officers entrusted with the world's deadliest weapons have been removed from launch duty for allegedly cheating — or tolerating cheating by others — on routine proficiency tests.
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| C.Africa Republic religious hatred was underestimated -France Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:42 PM PST  The level of hatred in Central African Republic between Muslims and Christians has been underestimated and is creating a "nearly impossible" situation for African Union and French forces to combat, France's U.N. envoy said on Wednesday. Speaking at a U.N. event about early warning signs for mass atrocities, Gerard Araud suggested the United Nations consider turning to psychologists or ethnologists to help understand and combat the deadly resentment because religious leaders' calls for calm were being ignored. Waves of massacres and reprisals by Muslim and Christian militias have killed hundreds, if not thousands, in Central African Republic since rebels seized power in March 2012, waking the world up to the fact that it might be witnessing the prelude to another Rwanda, where 800,000 were hacked, shot or clubbed to death in 100 days in 1994. France last year hurriedly deployed roughly 1,600 French troops to help a largely ineffective force of African peacekeepers, but they are too thinly spread to prevent tit-for-tat attacks.
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| New video surfaces of U.S. prisoner from Afghan war Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:35 PM PST  A new video has surfaced showing Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier captured by militants while stationed in Afghanistan more than four years ago, the soldier's family said on Wednesday. "Today we learned that a new video of our son, U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, has been distributed by his captors," Bergdahl's family said in a statement relayed by the Idaho National Guard. Bergdahl was stationed in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan when he disappeared under unclear circumstances on June 30, 2009, about two months after arriving in Afghanistan. U.S. officials said Bergdahl appeared to be in 'declining health,' but not gravely ill, in the video, which U.S. officials believe was recorded within the last month.
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| French companies, unions question Hollande's new vision Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:23 PM PST  By Mark John PARIS (Reuters) - French business raised doubts on Wednesday over Socialist President Francois Hollande's plan for public spending cuts and structural reform to revive the euro zone's second largest economy. His allies hailed a new "social democrat" vision for France but unions said they were worried about job cuts to the army of state sector workers and far-left politicians accused him of a sell-out as he moved towards the political center. Hollande, who has not denied magazine allegations last week of an affair with actress, deflected questions on his personal life at a marathon news conference on Tuesday unveiling plans to find at least 50 billion euros of spending cuts between 2015-2017 and cut corporate charges by 30 billion euros. While France's main employers' group broadly welcomed the plan, it rejected his call for companies to commit to specific targets for new hires.
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| Canadian killed fighting in Syria Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:19 PM PST  A Canadian citizen who converted to Islam has been killed while fighting in Syria, Canadian media said Wednesday. Mustafa al-Gharib, 22, was executed by the Free Syrian Army forces amid rebel infighting, after being injured in battle and captured by an unknown FSA faction in the city of Aleppo, Canada's public broadcaster reported. Citing unnamed sources in Syria and Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said he had joined Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda-affiliated rebel group consisting of largely foreign fighters. A Canadian Foreign Affairs Department spokesman told AFP: "We are aware of reports that Canadians have been killed in Syria.
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| Suspects in Rwanda ex-spy murder may be in Mozambique Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:17 PM PST  Mozambican police said Wednesday they were investigating the possibility that suspects in the murder of Rwanda's former intelligence chief were in the country. However they denied media reports that four Rwandans had been arrested in Mozambique over the killings. Patrick Karegeya, 53, was discovered slumped on a bed by staff at the plush Michelangelo Towers hotel in Johannesburg's upmarket suburb of Sandton on January 1. Last week, reports surfaced that Karegeya's suspected killers might have fled South Africa to Mozambique.
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| Jilted French first lady gets little sympathy Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:17 PM PST  PARIS (AP) — France's president is reported to be sneaking around on a motorcycle to have a secret affair with an actress. Who takes the brunt of the heat? In a very French twist, it's increasingly looking like his jilted first lady, who has been hospitalized since she found out.
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| Libyan oil revenues plunge as protests hurt output Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:13 PM PST  Libya's vital oil revenues fell far short of expectations in 2013, reaching just $40 billion after protesters shut down production at key sites in the east of the country. "Oil revenues reached slightly more than $40 billion, about 20 percent less than the $50 billion expected," Deputy Minister for Oil and Gas, Omar Chakmak told national television. The crisis erupted in July, when security guards at key oil terminals shut them down, accusing the authorities of corruption and demanding a more equitable distribution of oil revenues.
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| IAEA board to discuss Iran nuclear freeze Jan 24 Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:08 PM PST  The head of the UN atomic watchdog said Wednesday he has called an extraordinary meeting of the agency's board on January 24 to discuss how to verify Iran's upcoming nuclear freeze. "I have requested that a meeting of the board of governors be convened on 24 January," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said in a statement. He said he would "consult" with the 35-nation board regarding a request by Iran and six world powers to the IAEA to "undertake monitoring and verification of nuclear-related measures in relation to the Joint Plan of Action" signed on November 24. Under the landmark deal due to take effect on January 20, Iran has agreed to freeze parts of its nuclear programme for six months in exchange for moderate sanctions relief and a promise of no new sanctions.
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| Police confirm 19 dead in Nigeria market blast Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:57 PM PST  Lagos (AFP) - A total of 19 people were killed in a car bomb attack on a busy market blamed on Boko Haram militants, police in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, said on Wednesday.
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| Kenyan vice president excused from parts of ICC trial Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:53 PM PST  Kenyan Vice President William Ruto is not required to be present for his entire trial for crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court ruled Wednesday. "The Chamber hereby conditionally excuses Mr Ruto from continuous presence at trial," said ICC judge Chile Eboe-Osuji at the court based in The Hague. Ruto became the highest-ranking serving official to go on trial before the ICC in September 2013 on charges of masterminding some of the 2007-08 post-election violence in Kenya that claimed more than 1,000 lives and displaced several hundred thousand people. However, exceptionally, he is not required to attend his trial on Thursday and Friday as President Uhuru Kenyatta is travelling in Angola.
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| Egyptian election official says turnout high Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:52 PM PST  CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's top election official declared Wednesday that turnout was high in a national referendum, but a boycott by a wider-than-expected range of ultra-conservative Islamists raised the prospects of continued polarization.
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| Turkey hits impasse on judiciary as PM warns of 'empire of fear' Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:52 PM PST  Turkish leaders remained deadlocked Wednesday over a disputed government bid to rein in the judiciary as embattled Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan went on the warpath against an Islamic rival he accuses of plotting a coup. His comments came as the government faced obstacles in efforts to hammer out a compromise over its plans to exert more control over the judiciary, a move that has stoked concerns among Turkey's allies about the independence of its institutions and the rule of law. In an effort to break the deadlock, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag held talks with the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), Turkey's top independent judicial body which has found itself in the government's cross hairs. But President Abdullah Gul insisted any judicial reforms should meet EU criteria and come as part of constitutional amendments that would require cross-party backing.
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| Malawi promises forensic audit as donors freeze funds Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:52 PM PST  Blantyre (Malawi) (AFP) - Malawi President Joyce Banda, under pressure from foreign aid donors and facing a tough re-election battle, on Wednesday promised a forensic audit of suspected government corruption over the last decade. Banda said the audit, backed by Britain and the European Union, would help reveal the extent of corruption in the impoverished southern African state. "The forensic audit will be backdated to 2005... we need to know where we are coming from so that we can forgive each other," said Banda.
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| Israel's Yaalon risks isolation after Kerry slur Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:40 PM PST  Israel's defence minister may have apologised for his offensive comments about US Secretary of State John Kerry but his outburst could see him marginalised by Washington, commentators warned on Wednesday. A furious diplomatic row erupted between Israel and its closest ally on Tuesday when Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon was quoted as saying Kerry had an "obsession" about the peace process and was working out of a "sense of messianism." Washington immediately lashed out at the "offensive" remarks, demanding an apology, which was eventually published by Yaalon's office late on Tuesday, although it stopped short of denying the comments. "The defence minister had no intention to cause any offence to the secretary, and he apologises if the secretary was offended by words attributed to the minister," it said, expressing appreciation for Kerry's efforts to advance the ongoing peace talks.
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| Iraqi army retakes western town seized by gunmen Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:33 PM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi airstrikes pounded a town near Fallujah that had been seized by al-Qaida linked militants and commandos swept in Wednesday to clear the area, senior military officials said. It was a rare victory for government forces that have been struggling for nearly three weeks to regain control of the mainly Sunni area west of Baghdad.
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| Benghazi attack was preventable, Senate panel says Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:33 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Both highly critical and bipartisan, a Senate report declared Wednesday that the deadly assault on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, could have been prevented. The account spreads blame among the State Department, the military and U.S. intelligence for missing what now seem like obvious warning signs.
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| Hamas urges militants to leave Damascus camp Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:27 PM PST  Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas urged militants Wednesday to leave the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus in order to save residents from ongoing bloodshed. "We urgently call all those carrying weapons in Yarmuk to leave the camp in order to save the lives of more than 50,000 civilians," a statement said. Hamas called for an "aid channel to be opened up immediately" to the camp, saying Palestinian refugees were not a "party to the conflict" and should be spared the violence of Syria's nearly three-year civil war. On Tuesday, a Palestinian minister accused "terrorists" fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of blocking aid access to the Yarmuk camp.
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| Trial of suspected Hariri assassins set to begin Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:17 PM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — The truck bomb assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri sent a sectarian tremor across the Middle East and set off years of upheaval in Lebanon, the consequences of which are still felt across the turbulent region.
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| UN climate chief urges investors to bolster global warming fight Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:17 PM PST  By Valerie Volcovici NEW YORK (Reuters) - Institutional investors managing trillions of dollars should shift their portfolios away from fossil fuel investments toward cleaner energy sources to put a stop to the dangerous rise in global temperatures causing climate change, the United Nations' climate chief said on Wednesday. Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, told an investors conference at the United Nations that their investment decisions should reflect the latest scientific evidence of dangerous climate change to protect the health and financial savings of ordinary citizens well into the future. "Climate change increasingly poses one of the biggest long-term threats to those investments and the wealth of the global economy," Figueres added.
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| Bahrain's heir, opposition leaders discuss national dialogue Posted: 15 Jan 2014 01:16 PM PST  Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa met opposition leaders Wednesday in a bid revive a national dialogue that was suspended last week. The meeting focused on "ways to overcome the obstacles that have hindered the national dialogue," designed to bring the country out of the current political crisis, the official news agency BNA reported. BNA added without elaborating that "it was agreed on the main issues to be discussed under national dialogue in a coming stage." Bahrain's government announced Thursday that it had suspended the dialogue that began last February but was boycotted months ago by the main Shiite opposition.
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