| Russia says Kiev's move to join NATO dangerous for Europe Posted: 25 Dec 2014 05:47 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine's pursuit of NATO membership posed a danger to European security and that the West was using Kiev's bid to join the Atlantic alliance as a way to fuel confrontation between Russia and Ukraine. The Kiev parliament's renunciation of Ukraine's neutral status this week as a step toward joining NATO has outraged Moscow and deepened the worst confrontation between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. ...
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| Asia remembers devastating 2004 tsunami with prayers, memorial services Posted: 25 Dec 2014 01:16 PM PST  By Gayatri Suroyo BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Survivors of Asia's 2004 tsunami and relatives of its 226,000 victims gather along shorelines of the Indian Ocean on Friday for prayers and memorial services to mark the 10th anniversary of a disaster that still leaves an indelible mark on the region. When a 9.15-magnitude quake opened a faultline deep beneath the ocean a decade ago on Dec. 26, it triggered a wave as high as 17.4 meters (57 feet) which crashed ashore in more than a dozen countries, wiping some communities off the map in seconds. ...
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| Father asks Islamic State to treat captured pilot son as 'guest' Posted: 25 Dec 2014 06:07 AM PST  AMMAN (Reuters) - The father of a Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State fighters after his plane crashed in Syria said he did not consider his son a hostage and called on his captors to treat him as a "guest". Jordan is one of several Arab countries participating in the U.S.-led military mission to bomb fighters from the Islamist group, which holds territory in both Syria and Iraq. First Lieutenant Muath al-Kasaesbeh, 27, was captured after his jet crashed in northeast Syria on Wednesday during a bombing mission against the militants. The U.S. ...
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| Turkey, Iraq pledge more military cooperation in fight against Islamic State Posted: 25 Dec 2014 10:24 AM PST  By Gulsen Solaker ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey and Iraq, both worried by the advance of Islamic State, pledged on Thursday to work towards greater military cooperation in their fight against the ultra radical Sunni militants. Turkey is already training Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq to help them battle Islamic State insurgents, who control territory in Iraq and Syria. Some major battles are being fought very close to Turkish borders, and Turkey has become a haven for thousands who fled the militants. ...
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| Rocket hits storage tank at Libya's biggest oil port Posted: 25 Dec 2014 02:07 PM PST  By Ayman al-Warfalli and Ahmed Elumami BENGHAZI/TUNIS, Libya (Reuters) - A rocket set a storage tank at the eastern Libyan oil of port Es Sider on fire as armed factions allied to competing governments fought for control of the country's biggest export terminal, officials from both sides said on Thursday. Clashes were also reported from Sirte, a city west of Es Sider, killing up to 19, among them 14 guards at a power plant, residents said. No more details were available. ...
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| Colombia's FARC rebels to free kidnapped soldier in peace gesture Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:20 PM PST By Peter Murphy BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels will soon free a soldier captured last week during an ambush of a military patrol in which they killed five of his colleagues, according to an online statement Thursday. The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, began a pre-announced ceasefire at midnight last Friday, the same day they captured 25-year-old Carlos Becerra Ojeda during the attack on troops patrolling in the southwestern province of Cauca. ... |
| FARC says to free captured Colombian soldier Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:53 PM PST  Colombia's FARC guerrillas on Thursday announced that they would release a soldier they captured last week "in the coming days," calling the move a humanitarian gesture. The decision came in the wake of a unilateral ceasefire the leftist rebels began Saturday during peace negotiations to end Latin America's longest-running insurgency after more than 50 years. "Today we have launched a special humanitarian protocol for the release of Carlos Becerra Ojeda, a professional soldier captured in combat on December 19 in (southwestern) Cauca department," the FARC peace delegation said in a statement released in Havana, where negotiations to end the conflict are taking place. The guerrillas called the release a "new peace gesture of the FARC, a humanitarian act, considering that the soldier was slightly wounded during combat".
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| Japan inflation, industrial output weaken in Nov Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:48 PM PST TOKYO (AP) — Japan says its inflation rate eased slightly in November as household spending dropped, hindering the government's effort to get the world's third-largest economy out of recession and back to sustainable growth. |
| Sudan orders senior UN officials to leave Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:47 PM PST  Sudan has ordered two senior United Nations officials to leave, a UN spokesman said Thursday, after a recent spike in tensions between Khartoum and the peacekeeping mission in Darfur. The UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator Ali Zaatari and the UN Development Programme country director Yvonne Helle were asked by the government to leave, a UN staffer said. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN has protested the expulsions. Zaatari, a Jordanian national, had been in Sudan for nearly two years, and Helle, who is from the Netherlands, had spent about a year heading the UNDP's office in the country.
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| Storm brings white Christmas to Rockies; soggy weekend to Southeast Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:34 PM PST By Victoria Cavaliere (Reuters) - A winter storm pushing across the Rockies on Thursday was expected to drop a foot of snow in some areas as it fanned eastward, threatening soggy conditions and potential weekend travel delays across a wide swath of the United States, forecasters said. The storm was one of several predicted to produce snow, rain, fog and other treacherous conditions in the coming days as millions of travelers head home after the Christmas holiday, the National Weather Service said. ... |
| Sri Lanka strike late to even session against New Zealand Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:33 PM PST  Two late wickets enabled Sri Lanka to share the first-session honours with New Zealand on the opening day of the first Test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Friday. Tom Latham led a steady New Zealand start before the Sri Lanka quicks Suranga Lakmal and Shaminda Eranga took a wicket each before lunch. At the break New Zealand were 84-2 with Kane Williamson, eyeing his 14th Test half century, not out 34 and Ross Taylor on three with Latham out for 27.
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| NBA Capsules Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:33 PM PST SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Russell Westbrook scored 34 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-106 on Thursday in a rematch of last season's Western Conference Finals. |
| Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:32 PM PST MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Thursday offered sympathy to North Korea amid the Sony hacking scandal, saying the movie that sparked the dispute was so scandalous that Pyongyang's anger was "quite understandable." Washington failed to offer any proof to back its claims of Pyongyang's involvement in the hacking, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said at a briefing, adding that the U.S. threats of retaliation were "counterproductive." |
| New Zealand 84-2 at lunch on day 1, 1st test vs. Sri Lanka Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:30 PM PST CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — Sri Lanka's new ball pair of Shaminda Eranga and Suranga Lakmal struck back after unproductive first spells to capture New Zealand's openers and send the hosts to lunch at 84-2 Friday on the first day of the first cricket test. |
| S.Leone nurses strike over Ebola hazard pay amid lockdown Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:20 PM PST  Nurses at a public hospital in northern Sierra Leone were on strike Thursday to demand hazard pay for treating Ebola patients, as the region was under lockdown in a bid by authorities to combat the killer virus. Some 30 nurses at the Mabenteh Hospital in the town of Makeni said they had been refusing to work since Wednesday because of "the non payment of risk allowance" by the government for the month of November. The strike action came as Sierra Leone's northern region marked the second day of a five-day lockdown as part of intensified government efforts to contain the Ebola epidemic, with many public Christmas and New Year celebrations also banned. Markets and shops were shut in the country's north on Thursday and travel between districts was strictly forbidden save for Ebola health workers and authorised personnel.
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| Militants attack African Union base; 9 dead Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:17 PM PST NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Gunmen attacked the African Union's main base in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Thursday leading to an exchange of gunfire between militants and soldiers that killed at least nine people, including three soldiers, an official with the mission in Somalia said. |
| Ebola expert calls for European anti-virus 'corps' Posted: 25 Dec 2014 04:11 PM PST  London (AFP) - Europe will be "vulnerable" if it does not regard viruses as a "national security issue" like the United States, the microbiologist who discovered Ebola said in an interview published Friday.
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| Australia wins toss, bats 1st in 3rd test vs India Posted: 25 Dec 2014 03:42 PM PST MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first in the third cricket test in warm and sunny conditions Friday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. |
| Raunchy North Korea comedy hits US theaters Posted: 25 Dec 2014 03:30 PM PST  Raunchy comedy "The Interview" -- featuring a fictional plot to kill North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un that has enraged Pyongyang -- opened in crowded US movie theaters Thursday looking to make a statement on free speech. Its future had been in doubt after entertainment giant Sony said it was canceling the release following an embarrassing cyberattack on its corporate network and threats against moviegoers. Star Seth Rogen and co-director Evan Goldberg made a surprise appearance at one of the first showings in Los Angeles just after midnight, when they thanked moviegoers and theaters for pushing to get the film out. "We thought this might not happen at all," Rogen told a cheering crowd, according to a video posted on YouTube.
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| Cricket Australia trademarks 63 Not Out phrase Posted: 25 Dec 2014 03:13 PM PST MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Cricket Australia has trademarked the phrase "63 not out" in what it calls a defensive move to prevent people from cashing in on the death of test batsman Phillip Hughes. |
| Bomb kills two Egyptian troops in Sinai Posted: 25 Dec 2014 02:50 PM PST  A roadside bomb struck an Egyptian army vehicle late Thursday killing an officer and a soldier in the insurgent flashpoint of the Sinai Peninsula, security officials said. The attack occurred south of the town of El-Arish, scene of frequent attacks by Islamist militants on security forces. One army officer and a soldier were killed in the blast, while another soldier was wounded. Egypt's military has been battling an insurgency on the peninsula since it overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year and cracked down on his supporters.
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| Pope condemns religious persecution in Christmas address Posted: 25 Dec 2014 02:44 PM PST  Pope Francis on Thursday roundly condemned jihadist violence and the "brutal persecution" of religious minorities in a Christmas message to the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and millions of others. His second traditional "urbi et orbi" message (to the city and to the world) comes at the close of a year plagued by war and violent religious fundamentalism, notably in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and most recently against schoolchildren in Pakistan. "Truly there are so many tears this Christmas," he said in the message broadcast across the world.
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| Sri Lanka wins toss, bowls in 1st test vs. New Zealand Posted: 25 Dec 2014 02:44 PM PST CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and chose to bowl Friday on a green-looking pitch in the first cricket test against New Zealand at Hagley Oval. |
| Man shot with stun gun dies at US border crossing Posted: 25 Dec 2014 02:43 PM PST SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 40-year-old U.S. citizen died after a border inspector shot him with a stun gun at the nation's busiest crossing, authorities said Thursday. |
| Trial delayed pending FBI ruse ruling in Las Vegas Posted: 25 Dec 2014 02:39 PM PST LAS VEGAS (AP) — Trial has been postponed pending a federal judge's ruling on whether the FBI improperly entered Las Vegas Strip hotel suites without a warrant before arresting and accusing a Malaysian businessman and his son of illegal Internet gambling. |
| Conflict-hit east Ukraine struggles for festive joy Posted: 25 Dec 2014 02:21 PM PST  The big tree with the glimmering holiday lights is up but the festive spirit is missing on Lenin Square in the heart of east Ukraine's rebel stronghold of Donetsk. Children recited poems on the stage and Russian pop music blared from loudspeakers as an inflatable snowman bobbed in the cold wind. "If I have any sense of a holiday mood then it is buried very deep down," said Svetlana Mashilina, standing next to her husband Vladimir.
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| Three AU soldiers, civilian killed in Shebab attack on base Posted: 25 Dec 2014 01:23 PM PST  Three African Union soldiers and a civilian were killed Thursday after Shebab militants staged a brazen attack on the force's heavily fortified headquarters in Somalia. The AU force known as AMISOM said troops regained control of the base in Mogadishu after a gunfight that left five of the attackers dead while three others were captured. "Three AMISOM soldiers and a civilian contractor unfortunately lost their lives," AMISOM said in a statement, updating earlier information that said the four had been injured in the Christmas Day attack. The statement did not mention the nationalities of the victims, but a contingent of Ugandan soldiers is in charge of the base.
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| Morocco bans Ridley Scott's 'Exodus' Posted: 25 Dec 2014 01:15 PM PST  Morocco has banned cinemas from showing the biblical epic "Exodus: Gods and Kings" just one day before the Hollywood blockbuster was due to be screened, media reports said Thursday. It was unclear why officials decided to ban the movie which had been given the green light by the state-run Moroccan Cinema Centre (CCM), which implements all rules concerning the industry. Theatre managers said they received "verbal" instructions from the CCM not to begin screening the movie as planned on Wednesday, according to news website media24. Others said CCM officials had informed them of the ban in person.
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| 22 Libya soldiers slain after speedboat attack on oil ports Posted: 25 Dec 2014 01:12 PM PST  Islamists killed at least 22 soldiers Thursday after a surprise attack in which they used speedboats in a failed bid to seize some of Libya's main oil terminals, officials said. The fighting in the oil-rich region came as pro-government forces lost ground to Islamist militias in the eastern city of Benghazi, where jihadists beheaded six people and killed 14 others, military officials said. The militiamen belonging to the Fajr Libya, or Libya Dawn, launched the attack on Al-Sidra port by firing rockets from speedboats, setting an oil tank on fire, security sources said. Military and medical sources said 18 soldiers and a Fajr Libya fighter were killed in Sirte, and another four soldiers were slain in Al-Sidra.
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| Protesters in Mexico slam German weapons supplier Posted: 25 Dec 2014 12:57 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Protesters in Mexico claim that German arms manufacturers exported rifles to a corrupt local police department implicated in the disappearance of 43 students.
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| Israel set new date for West Bank outpost demolition Posted: 25 Dec 2014 12:34 PM PST  An Israeli court ordered the destruction of a settlement in the West Bank in a decision on Thursday that comes a decade after the first ruling to demolish the outpost. The Supreme Court ruling is the latest in the long series of demolition deadlines and postponements for the Amona wildcat settlement, which is home to some 50 families. Amona is the largest outpost in the West Bank, and was built on lands near Ramallah privately owned by Palestinians, who were behind the court petition. Israel considers settlement outposts built without government approval to be illegal and often sends security personnel to demolish them.
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| Jordan vows 'all efforts' to save pilot seized by IS Posted: 25 Dec 2014 12:02 PM PST  Jordan vowed Thursday to make every effort to save a pilot captured by the Islamic State group in Syria as Washington denied claims the jihadists had shot down his warplane. Maaz al-Kassasbeh, a 26-year-old first lieutenant in the Jordanian air force, was captured by IS on Wednesday after his F-16 jet crashed while on a mission against the jihadists over northern Syria. It was the first warplane lost and the first capture of a serviceman since the coalition launched strikes against IS in Syria in September. The pilot's father, Safi al-Kassasbeh, urged IS to show "mercy" and treat his son a "guest".
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| US traveler released from East Timor jail Posted: 25 Dec 2014 11:55 AM PST PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — A U.S. traveler detained for months in East Timor has been released from jail. |
| 'Sons of Liberty' tells tale of America's founders Posted: 25 Dec 2014 11:50 AM PST  BOSTON (AP) — Don't let the powdered wigs and oil paintings fool you: Samuel Adams, John Hancock and the other eventual Americans who changed the course of history were a ragtag band of secretive and sometimes mischievous young radicals.
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| Saudi women drivers referred to terrorism court Posted: 25 Dec 2014 11:50 AM PST  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two Saudi women detained for nearly a month in defiance of a ban on females driving were referred on Thursday to a court established to try terrorism cases, several people close to the defendants said.
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| UK queen calls for harmony in Christmas message Posted: 25 Dec 2014 11:49 AM PST  SANDRINGHAM, England (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II used her traditional Christmas broadcast Thursday to call for reconciliation throughout the United Kingdom and to praise medical workers fighting Ebola in Africa.
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| Pope wishes Christmas hope and peace for Mideast Posted: 25 Dec 2014 11:48 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (AP) — A somber Pope Francis steeped his Christmas message to the world Thursday in sadness for those with little cause for joy — abused children, refugees, hostages and others suffering from violence in the Middle East, Africa, Ukraine and elsewhere.
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| Lebanon's Hezbollah detains 'Israeli spy' in its ranks Posted: 25 Dec 2014 11:41 AM PST  Lebanon's Hezbollah has detained a senior party official it accused of spying for Israel and "sabotaging security operations" abroad, a source close to the movement said on Thursday. "Three months ago, Hezbollah's security apparatus detained a man named Mohammad Shawraba, who is a collaborator in its ranks," said the source, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. Hezbollah's investigation of Shawraba, who comes from the southern Lebanese town of Mahruna, revealed he had been working with Israel's Mossad intelligence service since 2007, the source said. Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite movement whose opponents accuse it of being a "state within a state" in Lebanon, has refused to comment on the arrest.
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