| Syria peace talks take a break as rivals dig in Posted: 30 Jan 2014 05:03 PM PST  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - A first round of peace talks on Syria wraps up Friday with both sides in entrenched positions and the U.N. mediator expressing frustration that it had not even been possible to get agreement for an aid convoy to enter the besieged city of Homs. After a week of talks at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, the opposing sides in Syria's civil war were still stuck on the question of how to proceed. "I hope that in the next session, when we come back, we will be able to have a more structured discussion," mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said. He was "very, very disappointed" that a U.N. aid convoy was still waiting fruitlessly to enter the rebel-held Old City of Homs, where the United States says civilians are starving.
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| Insight: How Thaksin's meddling sparked a new Thai crisis for PM sister Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:03 PM PST  By Andrew R.C. Marshall and Jason Szep BANGKOK (Reuters) - Yingluck Shinawatra's journey from political nobody to prime minister was breathtakingly swift. A political neophyte when she took office in 2011, the 46-year-old former business executive surprised many observers by steadying Thailand after years of often bloody political unrest. Behind Thailand's lurch into its worst crisis in years was a disastrous intervention by Yingluck's billionaire brother Thaksin, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup and now lives abroad to escape a corruption conviction. Thaksin's meddling turned a bill that would have freed ordinary Thais charged with protest-related crimes into a controversial wider amnesty for politicians such as himself, say senior members of Yingluck's ruling Puea Thai Party.
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| Amanda Knox convicted again of Briton's murder Posted: 30 Jan 2014 03:05 PM PST  By Naomi O'Leary FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - American student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty on Thursday for the second time of the 2007 murder of Briton Meredith Kercher, in a retrial that reversed an earlier appeal judgment. The verdict, after 12 hours of deliberations, confirmed Knox and Sollecito's original 2009 conviction. Knox's sentence was increased to 28 years and six months and Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years. Sollecito's lawyer Giulia Bongiorno confirmed that her client would appeal to Italy's highest court, and Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said he was "stunned".
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| Britain and France set to clash over EU reform at summit Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:08 PM PST  By William James LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to clash with France's President Francois Hollande over how to reform the European Union on Friday, souring an Anglo-French summit aimed at deepening defence and energy cooperation. The first Anglo-French summit since Hollande won power in May 2012 will announce joint investment in the latest phase of a combat drone scheme, cooperation on civil nuclear power research and an agreement on space and satellite technology. Cameron wants to re-open European Union treaties to try to secure sweeping reforms to make the trade bloc more efficient - an agenda he hopes will both persuade euroskeptic voters to back him at a 2015 election and quell dissent within his party. He has promised a referendum on Britain's EU membership by 2017.
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| Exclusive: In diplomatic shift, Europe seeks improved ties with Cuba Posted: 30 Jan 2014 03:29 PM PST  By Robin Emmott and Fiona Ortiz BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) - The European Union will agree next month to deepen relations with Cuba in its most significant overture to the communist nation since diplomatic sanctions were lifted in 2008, people close to the matter told Reuters. Foreign ministers from the EU's 28 countries will give the go-ahead on February 10 to launch talks with Havana on a special cooperation accord to increase trade, investment and dialogue on human rights. "Cuba wants capital, and the European Union wants influence," said one person involved in the talks who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. "This cooperation could serve as a prelude to much more." Two other people with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters that a consensus had been reached in Brussels to give momentum to the market-oriented reforms introduced under Cuban President Raul Castro and to position European companies for any transition to a more capitalist economy in the longer term.
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| After stunning debut, India's anti-graft party scrambles to dispel doubts Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:07 PM PST  By Frank Jack Daniel GHAZIABAD, India (Reuters) - Anti-corruption crusader Arvind Kejriwal has shaken up India's political landscape with promises to change a rotten system: Now he is scrambling to dispel fears that his populism and rabble rousing could be a liability for Asia's third-largest economy. Barely a year after founding the Aam Aadmi - or Common Man - Party (AAP), the former tax collector made a stunning debut in Delhi legislative elections last month, crushing the ruling Congress party and preventing the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from taking control of the city. As India heads to a general election due by May, Kejriwal - now chief minister of the country's capital - is preparing to wrongfoot the mainstream parties on a much larger scale. He could derail the ambition of BJP figurehead Narendra Modi to become prime minister, and possibly even hold the key to power in post-election maneuvering to form a coalition government.
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| White House releases plan to make Arctic shipping safer Posted: 30 Jan 2014 05:06 PM PST By Timothy Gardner and Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Arctic ice melts away, opening the way for greater oil development and mining, the White House outlined a plan on Thursday to promote safety and security in the region by building ports, improving forecasts of sea ice, and developing shipping rules. With warmer temperatures leaving Arctic sea passages open for longer periods of the year, billions of barrels of oil could be tapped beyond what is already being produced in the region. The White House plan was released on the same day that Royal Dutch Shell canceled drilling this year off Alaska, after a series of costly mishaps in the harsh conditions, as part of efforts to cut spending. The U.S. Defense Department will lead an interagency effort to forecast icy conditions by launching a satellite and improving analytic methods to forecast icy conditions. |
| Italian court finds Knox guilty of murder Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:56 PM PST  Florence (Italy) (AFP) - An Italian court on Thursday pronounced US student Amanda Knox guilty of murder and sentenced her in absentia to 28 years and six months in prison in what she said was an "unjust verdict". Chief judge Alessandro Nencini read out the ruling to a stunned silence in the Florence courtroom and Knox's lawyers said they would appeal in the high-profile and long-running case. After 12 hours of deliberations, the court's two judges and eight jurors also reinstated a murder conviction for Knox's former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and sentenced him to 25 years. Dressed in a blue sailor jacket and wearing sepia-coloured aviator sunglasses, Sollecito had attended a court hearing earlier on Thursday.
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| Exclusive: Bloomberg tapped to be U.N. cities, climate change envoy - sources Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:42 PM PST  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been tapped to be U.N. special envoy for cities and climate change, sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Barring any last minute changes, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - who is seeking to re-energize the global climate change debate and boost the United Nations' role - could make the announcement as early as Friday, the sources said on the condition of anonymity. Bloomberg, a billionaire philanthropist who left office last month, made combating climate change a key focus during his 12 years leading the United States most populous city. He also advocated for national climate change legislation.
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| British, French leaders meet for defence summit Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:38 PM PST  British Prime Minister David Cameron hosts French President Francois Hollande on Friday for talks set to be dominated by increased cooperation on defence and differences over European Union reform. The first Anglo-French summit since Hollande's election in 2012 takes place at a military base in Cameron's constituency in Oxfordshire, west of London, and will be followed by an informal lunch at a local pub. Despite an agenda packed with weighty issues, Hollande is unlikely to escape questions from Britain's famously prurient press about his recent split from his partner, Valerie Trierweiler. The setting of the Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton reflects the strong defence theme of the summit, which builds on a landmark agreement on defence and security cooperation between Britain and France in 2010.
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| U.N. delivers food to residents of besieged Damascus suburb Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:14 PM PST A United Nations agency delivered food to a rebel-held Damascus district on Thursday, alleviating the plight of thousands of people trapped for months by a Syrian army siege. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which cares for Palestinian refugees, said it had distributed 1,000 food parcels in Yarmouk camp, its biggest delivery there yet. UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said the aid was the first to reach Yarmouk since January 21 when 138 food parcels were sent in. |
| U.S. tells Syria to take immediate steps to remove chemical weapons Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:14 PM PST The United States told Syria on Thursday to take immediate actions to comply with a U.N. resolution to remove its chemical weapons materials saying demands by Damascus for additional equipment were "without merit" and delays were adding to costs. A statement by the United States to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the world's chemicals weapons watchdog in The Hague, said just 4 percent of the chemicals declared by Syria had been removed. "Syria has said that its delay in transporting these chemicals has been caused by 'security concerns' and insisted on additional equipment - armored jackets for shipping containers, electronic countermeasures, and detectors for improvised explosive devices," U.S. representative to the OPCW Robert Mikulak said in the statement to the OPCW's executive council. |
| Ex-Canadian top general in Afghanistan detained Posted: 30 Jan 2014 03:38 PM PST  Ottawa (Canada) (AFP) - A former Canadian brigadier-general and head of Canadian forces in Afghanistan is being detained in Afghanistan for alleged gun smuggling, but his employer said Thursday he is expected to be released soon. Daniel Menard resigned from the military after pleading guilty in 2011 to having an affair with a female corporal under his command on active duty. He now works for security firm Garda World, whose spokesman told AFP Menard was picked up by Afghan authorities on or about January 12 after a meeting with Afghan officials. The daily Globe and Mail earlier cited Kabul police chief General Zaher Zaher saying Menard was being held for "gun smuggling."
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| British Muslim who refused to remove veil makes court U-turn Posted: 30 Jan 2014 02:58 PM PST  A British Muslim woman on trial for witness intimidation, who refused to give evidence after being told she would need to remove her veil, dramatically admitted to the crime on Thursday. Rebekah Dawson, 22, had pleaded innocent to the charge, but changed her mind after jurors at London's Blackfriars Crown Court failed to reach a verdict despite 12 hours of deliberation. Dawson, of Hackney, east London, admitted that she had intimidated security guard Daudi Yusuf at the Finsbury Park mosque several weeks after he became involved in an argument with her husband. Judge Peter Murphy told Dawson in September that she would have to remove her niqab to let the 12-person jury see her face when giving evidence.
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| Mexico leftists to propose raising marijuana allowance in capital Posted: 30 Jan 2014 02:53 PM PST  By Julia Symmes Cobb MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The opposition party governing Mexico City said on Thursday it would propose raising the amount of marijuana residents of the capital can possess to seven times the current limit to help speed up drug liberalization in Mexico. Since former President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown on drug cartels seven years ago, Mexico has been wracked by gang-related violence, and there is growing pressure to explore regulation as a way of tackling the problem. The leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) has led the drive to liberalize Mexico's drug laws, and aims to use the capital, which it has governed since 1997, as starting ground. Vidal Llerenas, a PRD member of the Mexico City assembly, said the initiative that is due to be presented in the next two weeks would increase the amount of marijuana local residents are allowed for personal consumption to 35 grams from 5 grams.
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| Mexico arrests top drug cartel figure Posted: 30 Jan 2014 02:51 PM PST  Guadalajara (Mexico) (AFP) - Mexican security forces arrested the alleged number two in a major drug cartel on Thursday in a military sweep in the country's second largest city Guadalajara, an official said. The official, who asked not to be identified, said the suspect was Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez, the son of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel and considered the group's number two. Backed by a helicopter, dozens of soldiers sealed streets and raided properties in the Zapopan section of Guadalajara, a city of 4.4 million people in western Mexico. The cartel operates in the state of Jalisco, of which Guadalajara is the capital.
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| Panama releases 32 N. Koreans in arms case Posted: 30 Jan 2014 02:48 PM PST  Panamanian authorities have released 32 of the 35 North Koreans detained since July after an undeclared cargo of Cuban arms was found on their ship, prosecutors said Thursday. The remaining three North Koreans -- the Chong Chon Gang vessel's captain, first officer and political secretary -- will go to trial on arms trafficking charges, prosecutor Nathaniel Murgas told reporters. The North Korean freighter was stopped July 10 on suspicion of carrying drugs as it tried to enter the Panama Canal. Earlier this month, Panamanian officials said North Korea had agreed to pay a $666,000 fine for release of the crew and ship.
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| Libya sets February 20 for constitution assembly vote Posted: 30 Jan 2014 02:35 PM PST  By Ghaith Shennib TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya will elect an assembly on February 20 to draft a constitution intended to advance transition to democracy and break political stalemate more than two years after a NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The North African country is caught up in chaos with its Congress deadlocked between Islamists and a leading nationalist party, and its nascent army struggling to assert itself against unruly former rebels, tribal groups and Islamist militants. Just hours before the congress decision, gunmen kidnapped the son of Libya's special forces commander in Benghazi, later calling the colonel to demand he withdraw troops in return for his son's release, state news agency LANA said. "We want all Libyan people and groups to reconcile and support these elections," Nouri Abusahmain, president of the General National Congress, said after announcing the date of the vote On Thursday.
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| US says Syria 'dragging its feet' on chemical weapons Posted: 30 Jan 2014 02:24 PM PST  The United States accused the Syrian regime Thursday of dragging its feet over its chemical weapons stockpile and urged Damascus to immediately hand over the cache as promised for destruction. Top US officials voiced concern that a deadline set with Damascus to remove the most dangerous chemical arms from the country had been missed by a month. "Syria must immediately take... the necessary actions to comply with its obligations," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. We need them to pick up those feet and run with this and move forward in moving the chemical weapons stockpile to the ports."
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| Convicted murderer executed in US Posted: 30 Jan 2014 02:22 PM PST  A convicted murder was executed by lethal injection Wednesday night in the US state of Missouri, his lawyers said. Herbert Smulls, 56, was put to death after a reprieve granted by US Supreme Court Judge Samuel Alito late Tuesday was lifted by the court.
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| Amanda Knox's murder conviction upheld on appeal Posted: 30 Jan 2014 02:15 PM PST FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — An appeals court in Florence on Thursday upheld the guilty verdict against U.S. student Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend for the 2007 murder of her British roommate. Knox was sentenced to 28 1/2 years in prison, raising the specter of a long legal battle over her extradition if the conviction is upheld. |
| $3.5M in coke seized near Puerto Rico; 3 charged Posted: 30 Jan 2014 02:09 PM PST SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Three men in Puerto Rico have been charged with conspiring to import 136 kilograms (300 pounds) of cocaine worth an estimated $3.5 million. |
| Top Asian News at 10:00 p.m. GMT Posted: 30 Jan 2014 02:03 PM PST BANGKOK (AP) — The protest leader, a monk in flowing orange robes, sat sternly at the head of a long hardwood table, his newfound authority in this patch of Bangkok plain for all to see. Before him, three high-level Thai officials were begging permission to get back to work — in offices across the street his anti-government demonstrators had shut them out of two weeks earlier. Tens of thousands of passport applications were piling up, they said. Bankruptcy declarations needed tending to. One official was desperate to access environmental databases. |
| Amanda Knox says frightened by "unjust" murder conviction in Italy Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:57 PM PST (Reuters) - U.S. student Amanda Knox said on Thursday that she was frightened and saddened by what she called an "unjust" verdict in Italy convicting her in the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher. "Having been found innocent before, I expected better from the Italian justice system. The evidence and accusatory theory do not justify a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," Knox said in a statement released by her spokesman. (Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky; Writing by Dan Whitcomb) |
| Rastafarians lay claim to historic Jamaica hilltop Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:56 PM PST KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — About 100 Rastafarians have rallied in Jamaica's capital to lay claim to a site where a founding father of the movement once led a flourishing community. |
| Santander boycotts Copa quarters in wage protest Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:53 PM PST MADRID (AP) — Racing Santander players boycotted their Copa del Rey quarterfinal against Real Sociedad on Thursday to protest unpaid wages. |
| UN targets wildlife traders in Africa sanctions Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:48 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has targeted illegal wildlife traffickers for sanctions in a pair of resolutions against African armed groups, a step conservationists called unprecedented and a major shift on a problem that has morphed from an environmental issue into a security threat. |
| Knox: Frightened, saddened by murder conviction Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:46 PM PST  FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Amanda Knox says she is frightened and saddened by her "unjust" murder conviction in the death of her British roommate Meredith Kercher.
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| Beirut suburb on high alert after wave of bombings Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:44 PM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — Mohammed Hussein has stacked 300 sandbags outside his coffee shop in Beirut's southern suburbs to reassure customers frightened by a wave of deadly bombings there, but business is still down by half.
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| Ruthless Christian militias hunt down Muslims in CAR capital Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:40 PM PST  Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - Rudimentary weapons taken from Christian extremist militias by French troops in the capital of the Central African Republic were piled up on the ground, near the body of a young man whose ears were ripped off. "They" referred to "anti-balaka" (anti-machete) vigilantes who fiercely target Muslims in Bangui on the pretext of hunting down ex-rebels from the Seleka coalition. Sporadic shots could be heard Thursday around the PK-5 business hub of the capital, where numerous Muslim-owned shops attract looters and anti-balaka forces, who are kept at bay by armed Muslims and remaining Seleka forces. But night and day, residents from the Muslim minority, like Abaka, are cut down by anti-balaka forces armed with machetes, hammers, slings and spades.
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| Knox statement: Frightened, saddened by verdict, says justice was perverted Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:36 PM PST FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Knox statement: Frightened, saddened by verdict, says justice was perverted. |
| Key dates in Knox prosecution Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:35 PM PST  FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Key dates in case of American student Amanda Knox, convicted then acquitted in slaying of British roommate Meredith Kercher.
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| Top Asian News at 9:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:33 PM PST BANGKOK (AP) — The protest leader, a monk in flowing orange robes, sat sternly at the head of a long hardwood table, his newfound authority in this patch of Bangkok plain for all to see. Before him, three high-level Thai officials were begging permission to get back to work — in offices across the street his anti-government demonstrators had shut them out of two weeks earlier. Tens of thousands of passport applications were piling up, they said. Bankruptcy declarations needed tending to. One official was desperate to access environmental databases. |
| Abbott to close Puerto Rico manufacturing plant Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:33 PM PST SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Abbott Laboratories is closing one of its manufacturing plants in the Puerto Rico town of Barceloneta next year, delivering another blow to the U.S. territory's once-thriving pharmaceutical sector, officials said Thursday. |
| Roche enjoys strong profit, expects growth in 2014 Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:32 PM PST GENEVA (AP) — Swiss drug maker Roche saw its full-year profits boosted by strong demand for its cancer medicines and diagnostic tests used by clinical laboratories, the company reported Thursday. |
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