| Sony Pictures moves to release 'The Interview' in about-face Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:46 PM PST  By Eric Kelsey and David Brunnstrom LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sony Pictures will allow "The Interview" to play in some U.S. theaters on Christmas Day, reversing its decision to pull the film, after coming under criticism from President Barack Obama and others for caving into pressure from North Korea. The White House praised Sony's about-face, which the studio said would result in "a limited theatrical release" of the film, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco and is about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korea leader Kim Jong Un. ...
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| South Korea steps up cyber security at nuclear plants Posted: 23 Dec 2014 02:12 AM PST  By Jack Kim and Meeyoung Cho SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea boosted cyber security at the country's nuclear power plants on Tuesday following what President Park Geun-hye described as a series "grave" data leaks, and prosecutors said they were investigating a new online threat. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co Ltd (KHNP), which runs South Korea's 23 nuclear power reactors, said on Monday its computer systems had been hacked, raising alarm in a country that is still technically at war with North Korea. ...
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| Special Report: Fear and retribution in Xi's corruption purge Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:21 PM PST  By David Lague , Benjamin Kang Lim and Charlie Zhu HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - Chen Zhenggao, a member of the Communist Party's elite Central Committee, clearly has enemies. While Chen was visiting Hong Kong last year, his adversaries were preparing a detailed dossier on his travel and entertainment spending. Among the materials was video surveillance footage of the powerful politician, then the governor of China's Liaoning province, stepping out of the plush Conrad Hotel in Hong Kong on the evening of April 24, 2013. Chen was leading a large delegation of Liaoning officials seeking to drum up investment.
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| Ten more strikes hit Islamic State in Syria, Iraq: U.S. military Posted: 23 Dec 2014 05:56 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq launched 10 more strikes against the militants on Tuesday, destroying various fighting positions, the U.S. military said in a statement. The seven strikes in Syria and three in Iraq also struck a unit of Islamic State fighters as well as some of the militants' oil collection equipment, according to the Combined Joint Task Force for the operation. (Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Bill Trott)
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| A decade of Western aid in Afghanistan - mission unsustainable? Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:26 PM PST  By Jessica Donati KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan has new roads, sections of which many deem too dangerous to use. Sixteen transport planes given to the Air Force were scrapped having barely flown. International aid has been the mainstay of the Afghan economy since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, and donors, chiefly the United States, have plenty to show for tens of billions of dollars they poured into the war-ravaged nation. Take Mohammad Nasir, a farmer in his 70s who was recommended to Reuters by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as an example of its success in Afghanistan.
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| Hungary PM Orban: U.S. uses corruption charges to gain influence Posted: 23 Dec 2014 02:58 PM PST  BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The United States is using corruption allegations against some Hungarian public officials as a "cover story" to boost its influence in central Europe amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday. Orban's comments come amid a wider souring of relations between Hungary, a NATO ally, and the United States over what America perceives as Orban's increasingly authoritarian rule and Budapest's warm relations with Russia. ...
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| Watson back training after being hit by bouncer Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:57 PM PST  MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian all-rounder Shane Watson was back training on Wednesday, a day after he was hit in the head by a short-pitched delivery in training for the Boxing Day test against India.
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| Dow tops 18,000 points as US economy surges ahead Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:48 PM PST  In a year full of market milestones, Wall Street crushed a couple more Tuesday, lifting the Dow Jones industrial average past the 18,000-point mark for the first time and delivering the Standard & Poor's 500 index its second record-high close in two days.
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| 2 arrested in Sydney in counterterror operation Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:47 PM PST  SYDNEY (AP) — Two men were arrested as part of an ongoing counterterrorism investigation into a group that officials have accused of plotting to kill a random member of the public in Sydney, police said Wednesday, one day after the nation's prime minister warned of heightened terrorist chatter in the aftermath of a deadly siege in a Sydney cafe.
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| Tornadoes blamed for four deaths, major damage in Mississippi Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:44 PM PST  By Emily Le Coz JACKSON, Miss. (Reuters) - Tornadoes unleashed by thunderstorms along the U.S. Gulf Coast ripped through southeastern Mississippi on Tuesday, killing at least four people, injuring numerous others and causing extensive damage to homes and businesses, authorities said. One of the heaviest-hit areas was a commercial district along the U.S. Highway 98 bypass in the town of Columbia in Marion County, about 30 miles (48 km) west of Hattiesburg, state emergency management spokesman Greg Flynn told Reuters. ...
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| Japan prepares to reappoint Abe as prime minister Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:44 PM PST TOKYO (AP) — Japan is preparing to name Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to his next term in office following his party's victory in a Dec. 14 snap election. |
| Scrutinized officials frozen in headlights of anti-graft campaign Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:38 PM PST By Charlie Zhu and Benjamin Kang Lim HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - The sustained scrutiny of Chinese President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign has been traumatic for many Communist Party and government officials who have grown rich on their power to dispense favours. "Government officials are feeling insecure," says Bo Zhiyue, senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore. In Hong Kong, where officials and their families sparked a heady retail boom, luxury spending dropped 14.7 per cent in the nine months to September, compared to the same period last year, according to a November report from Fitch Ratings. |
| WWI letter describes 'extraordinary' Christmas truce Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:32 PM PST  London (AFP) - A letter from a World War I soldier describing the "extraordinary sight" of a spontaneous Christmas ceasefire between German and British soldiers was published on Wednesday, 100 years after it was written.
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| Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:32 PM PST SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Key North Korean websites suffered intermittent outages Tuesday after a nearly 10-hour shutdown that followed a U.S. vow to respond to a crippling cyberattack on Sony Pictures that Washington blames on Pyongyang. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the Internet stoppage in one of the least-wired and poorest countries in the world, but outside experts said it could be anything from a cyberattack to a simple power failure. The White House and the State Department declined to say whether the U.S. government was responsible. |
| Glasgow mourns victims of bin truck tragedy Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:28 PM PST  London (AFP) - Residents of Glasgow laid floral tributes and prayed at a memorial service on Tuesday for victims killed when a rubbish truck ploughed into Christmas shoppers in the city.
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| Brazil's president names farmers' champion Abreu as agriculture minister Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:17 PM PST By Caroline Stauffer SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff named Senator Katia Abreu, a high-profile politician who has vocally defended farmers from claims they cut down the rainforest, as the country's new agriculture minister on Tuesday. Abreu has presided over the powerful Brasilia-based National Confederation of Agriculture and is expected to play a more visible role than other recent agriculture chiefs in the world's top exporter of soy, beef, coffee and sugar. ... |
| Brazil's Rousseff picks allies for second-term cabinet Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:15 PM PST  BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff appointed 13 new ministers on Tuesday, choosing allied politicians in a cabinet reshuffle while trying to avoid any names that could be linked to a widening corruption scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras. Rousseff will replace Energy Minister Edison Lobao, whose name has appeared in reports of the bribery investigation, with Eduardo Braga, a senator of his same PMDB party, the country's largest, a statement from the president's office said. ...
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| US court: Argentina must disclose to US creditors Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:13 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Argentina and various banks must reveal information about the nation's assets to U.S. bondholders who are owed about $1.5 billion, a federal appeals court said Tuesday, though the panel cautioned a judge that a sovereign state is entitled to grace and civility and some records may be off limits. |
| Brazil leader names 13 new ministers Posted: 23 Dec 2014 04:01 PM PST SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has named 13 of the new ministers who will serve during her second term. |
| After the war, a bittersweet Christmas in Gaza Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:59 PM PST  A garland in hand, 11-year-old Sara decorates the family Christmas tree with her parents. Her family applied for Israeli permits to leave the Gaza Strip and travel to Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas in the not-so-little town in the West Bank where Jesus was born. This year, Israel granted around 500 permits to Palestinian Christians, allowing them to travel from Gaza to the West Bank so they can visit Bethlehem's Nativity church and attend the traditional midnight mass. "Christmas is a happy time but it's also a bit sad because I didn't get the permit to go with my parents," Sara admits.
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| Without help, Libya could become next Syria, foreign minister says Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:53 PM PST By Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Libya, torn by a growing political divide that threatens to engulf its oilfields, could become the next Syria if it does not patch its divided government and get help battling Islamic militants, the country's foreign minister said on Tuesday. "If we don't do the right thing now, in two years' time we could have – hopefully not – a repeat of what happened in Syria in 2014 because the international community didn't react adequately," Foreign Minister Mohamed Dayri told Reuters in an interview. ... |
| Government targeted as anti-terror police arrest two in Australia Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:38 PM PST  Two men have been seized in Sydney with one allegedly in possession of documents connected to a planned terrorist attack on government targets, police said Wednesday. The arrests by counter-terror police follow a series pre-dawn raids across Sydney and Brisbane in September as concern mounts about the flow of people to Iraq and Syria to fight with the Islamic State group and other jihadists. One of the men charged late Tuesday, a 20-year-old, was accused of being in "possession of documents designed to facilitate a terrorist attack" while a 21-year-old was accused of breaching a control order issued by a judge. "Certainly the documents talked a little bit about potential government targets," said Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner for National Security Michael Phelan.
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| Tornadoes blamed for numerous injuries, major damage in Mississippi Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:29 PM PST JACKSON, Miss. (Reuters) - Tornadoes unleashed by thunderstorms along the U.S. Gulf Coast struck southeastern Mississippi on Tuesday, causing numerous injuries and extensive damage to homes and businesses in at least two counties, a state emergency management spokesman said. One of the heaviest-hit areas was a commercial district along the U.S. Highway 98 bypass in the town of Columbia in Marion County, about 30 miles west of Hattiesburg, the spokesman, Greg Flynn, told Reuters. He said some people were severely hurt, but he was unable to quantify the full extent of the injuries. ... |
| U.S. calls planned Thai poll delay to 2016 'unwise' Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:27 PM PST  BANGKOK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A general election to return Thailand to democracy will be held in February 2016 at the earliest, a deputy prime minister said after talks with a U.S. diplomat on Tuesday, a delay Washington later called "unwise and unjustified." The military government, established after a May 22 coup, said last month an election planned for late 2015 would be delayed until 2016, giving more time for reforms which the military says should bring stability after a decade of factional rivalry. ...
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| Newly elected leader says Tunisia has 'turned page' Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:21 PM PST  Tunisia's new leader Beji Caid Essebsi said the country has turned the page on dictatorship after a presidential vote that European observers hailed on Tuesday as "credible and transparent". Essebsi, an 88-year-old who served under previous Tunisian regimes, was on Monday declared the winner of a vote seen as a landmark for the birthplace of the Arab Spring. His election rounded off Tunisia's transition to democracy and has won praise from Western leaders including US President Barack Obama. European Union observers reported on Tuesday that Tunisians had voted "for the first time in a credible and transparent presidential election".
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| London food bank busy as Christmas approaches Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:17 PM PST  London (AFP) - Food bank use in Britain is growing rapidly and Christmas has been a particularly busy time for centres like the one run by a Christian charity in the mostly affluent London neighbourhood of Fulham.
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| Protesters defy New York call for moratorium Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:16 PM PST  A national coalition of activists Tuesday rejected calls to suspend anti-police protests in New York after two officers were murdered, and called for a mass demonstration on New Year's Eve. America's largest city has been left in shock by the killings of Wenjian Liu, 32, and Rafael Ramos, 40, shot in the head as they sat in their patrol car in broad daylight in Brooklyn on Saturday. Cities across the United States have seen weeks of protests over the killings and decisions not to prosecute white officers responsible for recent deaths in New York and Ferguson, Missouri. The group marched down 5th Avenue -- one of New York's busiest shopping districts two days before Christmas -- carrying signs saying "jail killer cops," witnesses said.
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| Marathon bombing suspect wants trial delayed Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:13 PM PST BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving Boston Marathon suspect, are again asking a federal judge to delay his trial until September. |
| Belfast leaders strike deal to save power-sharing Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:09 PM PST  DUBLIN (AP) — Northern Ireland leaders reached agreement to sustain their troubled Catholic-Protestant government Tuesday following all-night Belfast talks that reduced some negotiators to bleary-eyed exhaustion.
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| German president urges compassion, help for refugees Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:07 PM PST  Germany's president appealed in a Christmas message for compassion and openness towards refugees coming to the country, which is grappling with a growing anti-Islam movement amid a debate about immigration. President Joachim Gauck, a former dissident Lutheran pastor in ex-East Germany, said in the speech that he saw a great readiness by many to accept those seeking refuge in Germany. Germany, which has fared better economically than most of its eurozone partners, has become the continent's top destination for asylum seekers and expects a further increase next year. "That we react with empathy to the plight around us, that most of us don't follow those who want to seal off Germany -- that is for me a truly encouraging experience of this year," he said, according to a copy of the speech to be broadcast Thursday.
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| Van Gaal keen to repay Fergie's faith Posted: 23 Dec 2014 03:01 PM PST  Louis van Gaal has revealed he feels under pressure to succeed at Manchester United to repay the generous support of Old Trafford legend Alex Ferguson. Ferguson has given his backing to van Gaal in recent interviews, claiming the United manager can restore the team to the lofty levels which Ferguson himself attained in his 27 years as boss. Certainly, van Gaal's efforts in leading United into a top three position as the Premier League enters the Christmas period have been impressive and generated an air of optimism at the club not felt since Ferguson retired in 2013. "When you come to Manchester United, because I know Sir Alex, you hope that he will support you.
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| Global arms treaty enters into force on Wednesday Posted: 23 Dec 2014 02:48 PM PST  A treaty laying down international rules for the $85 billion dollar global arms trade goes into force on Wednesday, with campaigners vowing to make sure it is strictly implemented. The United States -- by far the world's largest arms producer and exporter -- has signed the treaty, but has yet to ratify it. Other key exporters such as France, Britain and Germany have ratified the charter and pledged to adhere to its strict criteria aimed at cutting off weapons supplies to human rights violators worldwide. "For too long, arms and ammunition have been traded with few questions asked about whose lives they will destroy," said Anna Macdonald, director of the Control Arms coalition of non-governmental organizations.
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| 13 Cuban, Haitian migrants found near Puerto Rico Posted: 23 Dec 2014 02:39 PM PST SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Federal authorities say they have detained 13 Cuban and Haitian migrants near the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. |
| More than 1,100 jihadists killed in US-led Syria strikes Posted: 23 Dec 2014 02:37 PM PST  US-led air strikes in Syria have killed more than 1,000 jihadists in the past three months, nearly all of them from the Islamic State group, a monitoring group said Tuesday. "At least 1,171 have been killed in the Arab and international air strikes (since September 23), including 1,119 jihadists of the Islamic State group and Al-Nusra Front," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists and medics across the war-ravaged country for its information. Among the dead were 1,046 members of IS, which has seized large chunks of Iraq and Syria and is the main target of the air campaign. Seventy-two of those killed were members of Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front, while another was a jihadist prisoner whose affiliation was unknown, an Observatory statement said.
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| France boosts security after spate of brutal attacks Posted: 23 Dec 2014 02:36 PM PST  The French government stepped up security nationwide Tuesday following three bloody attacks in as many days, which killed one man and injured 25. While the motives behind the incidents -- a knife attack on police and two cars driven into passers-by -- remain unclear, the violence has jarred nerves after repeated jihadist threats against France over its fight against Islamic extremism. Prime Minister Manuel Valls stressed that the three incidents were "distinct" and urged the French to keep calm, while assuring that security would be heightened. The violence began on Saturday when a man was shot dead after attempting to enter a police station in the central town of Joue-les-Tours while shouting "Allahu Akbar".
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| Greek parliament fails for second time to elect a president Posted: 23 Dec 2014 02:31 PM PST  Greece moved closer on Tuesday to early elections that could undermine its international bailout and rekindle a eurozone crisis after lawmakers failed for a second time to elect a president. The government candidate, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, fell 32 votes short of the required 200 votes, meaning a third and final vote will be held on December 29. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras warned after the vote that early general elections, which could be held as soon as January 25, constituted a "national danger" that must be avoided. Financial analysts said given Tuesday's showing, the government would be ultimately unable to turn the contest to its advantage.
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| Ex-US Marine held in Iran suspends hunger strike Posted: 23 Dec 2014 02:14 PM PST  FLINT, Michigan (AP) — A former U.S. Marine imprisoned in Iran is temporarily suspending a hunger strike after authorities agreed to re-examine his case, his family said Tuesday.
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