| Al Qaeda group fights back against Syria rebel assault Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:02 PM PST By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked jihadists struck back against rival rebels in eastern and northern Syria on Friday after a week of internecine fighting among opponents of President Bashar al-Assad in which 500 people have been killed, a monitoring group said. With less than two weeks to go before what is hoped will be the first peace talks between the opposition and Assad's government, disparate opposition groups met for the first time in the Spanish city of Cordoba. They agreed to work together but did not agree who, if any of them, should attend the peace talks. In rebel-held areas, other groups have turned against the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which aims to construct an Islamist caliphate straddling the border separating Syria and Iraq. |
| Iran, EU make progress in nuclear implementation talks Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:46 PM PST  By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran and the European Union appeared to make progress in resolving outstanding differences on how to implement a landmark nuclear deal in talks in Geneva on Friday but the United States said discussions were not yet finalized. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met a senior EU official in Geneva to iron out remaining practical details of the November 24 accord under which Iran agreed to curb its most sensitive nuclear work in return for some sanctions relief. The European Union liaises with Iran on behalf of six world powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - in diplomatic efforts related to Tehran's nuclear work. A spokesman for the EU, Michael Mann, said "very good" progress was made "on all the pertinent issues", but added that results of the talks still had to be validated by more senior officials.
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| Celebrations in Central African Republic as leader resigns Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:48 PM PST  By Madjiasra Nako and Paul-Marin Ngoupana N'DJAMENA/BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's interim leaders caved in to international pressure and resigned on Friday after failing to halt inter-religious violence, prompting street celebrations but also questions over who would step in to take charge. The resignations of President Michel Djotodia and Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye came at a two-day summit of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) in neighboring Chad. Talks to decide on new leadership will take place in Central African Republic, a communique said. With memories of Rwanda's 1994 genocide stirred by the unrest, France sent hundreds of troops to its former colony last month to support African peacekeeping forces.
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| Exclusive: U.S. weighs targeted sanctions against South Sudan - sources Posted: 10 Jan 2014 03:49 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau and Warren Strobel UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is weighing targeted sanctions against South Sudan due to the failure of leaders in the world's youngest nation to take steps to end a crisis that has brought the country to the brink of civil war, sources briefed on U.S. discussions told Reuters. "It's a tool that has been discussed," a source told Reuters on condition of anonymity about the possibility of U.S. sanctions against those blocking peace efforts or fueling violence in South Sudan. The U.S. government was unlikely to consider steps intended to economically harm impoverished South Sudan but would likely focus on any measures on those individuals or groups it sees as blocking efforts at brokering peace or committing atrocities. Three weeks of fighting, often along ethnic lines, is ringing alarm bells in Washington over the prospect that the conflict could spiral into full-blown civil war, spawning atrocities or making South Sudan the world's next failed state.
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| Afghan detainee release a concern: White House Posted: 10 Jan 2014 11:51 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Friday that the release of Afghan detainees the United States considers dangerous is a concern and that U.S. officials have discussed the issue with counterparts in Kabul. "We are very concerned about the release of any detainees who would pose a threat to U.S. forces and this is an issue that we take quite seriously," he said at a briefing. (Reporting By Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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| US deploys small team of military advisers to Somalia Posted: 10 Jan 2014 04:14 PM PST  The United States has sent a handful of military advisers to Somalia in recent months to help bolster an African Union force fighting Islamist militants there, officials said Friday. The deployment marks the first stationing of US troops in the troubled country since 1993, when two Blackhawk helicopters were shot down and 18 Americans were killed in a disastrous operation. "The US has established a military coordination cell in Somalia to provide planning and advisory support to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali security forces to increase their capabilities and promote peace and security throughout Somalia and the region," US Africa Command spokesman Colonel Tom Davis said in a statement. The African Union mission supports Somali government forces, which have rolled back Shebab fighters out of key cities over the past 18 months.
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| US withdraws diplomat after India expulsion demand Posted: 10 Jan 2014 03:49 PM PST  NEW DELHI (AP) — The United States said Friday it was withdrawing a diplomat from India in hopes it would end a bitter dispute that started with the arrest and strip search of an Indian diplomat in New York.
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| EU nations favourable on joint military mission to C. Africa Posted: 10 Jan 2014 03:40 PM PST  European Union nations agreed in principle Friday on a plan to launch a joint military operation in Central Africa to help restore security there amid fears of civilian massacres. Ambassadors from the 28 member states gave preliminary approval to plans for the rapid deployment of hundreds of troops to help African and French peacekeepers already on the ground restore "a safe and secure environment" in the Central African Republic, EU officials said. "Member states agreed that the EU should contribute to the restoration of security" in the Central African Republic (CAR), said a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
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| Canada orders reinforced fuel trains after disaster Posted: 10 Jan 2014 03:37 PM PST  The structural integrity of the DOT 111 tank cars involved in the accident came under scrutiny following the accident, after it emerged the US Department of Transportation had identified safety flaws in the early 1990s. Canadian Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt said from now on DOT 111 tank cars would be required to be designed to meet stringent new safety regulations.. "It will require that new DOT 111 tank cars be built with thicker steel requirements, as well as adding top fitting and head shield protection to the tank car," Raitt said in a statement. "DOT 111 tank cars are used for transporting dangerous goods of high and medium danger, such as crude oil.
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| Trial opens of Norwegian accused of killing cellmate in DRC Posted: 10 Jan 2014 03:20 PM PST  A Norwegian national accused of killing his cellmate in a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo, went on trial on Friday in Kinshasa, his lawyer said. Joshua French, who also holds British citizenship, is accused of murdering his friend and fellow Norwegian Tjostolv Moland, whose body was found at Kinshasa's Ndolo military prison on August 18. French's lawyer Marie-Andre Mwila said her client appeared in front of the Ndolo military court in the capital on Friday. Moland, 32, and his friend French, 31, were arrested in DR Congo in 2009 and sentenced to death in June 2010 after being convicted of killing the Congolese driver of a car they had rented.
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| A nervous calm grips Fallujah, but clashes nearby Posted: 10 Jan 2014 03:04 PM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — Residents started to trickle back to the besieged city of Fallujah on Friday as militants and government forces both appear to be preparing for a long standoff. Al-Qaida-linked fighters and tribal gunmen are camped on the outskirts of the city, with Iraqi army and police stationed nearby.
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| SAfrica's ANC launches wish list to woo disgruntled voters Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:57 PM PST  Nelspruit (South Africa) (AFP) - South Africa's President Jacob Zuma on Friday launched the ruling ANC party's election manifesto, hoping to help woo voters that are increasingly frustrated with persistent poverty, joblessness and corruption. The party of the late iconic Nelson Mandela has in recent years been battered by accusations of graft and its inability to grow the economy of Africa's wealthiest nation. "We must therefore intervene decisively," Zuma told hundreds guests at an African National Congress party dinner on the eve of the launch of its election campaign. Despite its ranking as Africa's richest country and 20 years after the fall of apartheid, South Africa is still dogged by high levels of inequality and joblessness rates are growing stubbornly high.
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| François Hollande’s Affair: Scandal Reveals a Changing France Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:34 PM PST France is no longer an exception. Legal restrictions on snooping in France are some of the harshest in the world, imposing major fines and even a possible jail term on newspaper editors who expose the private lives of citizens. "A terrible mistake," says Yair Cohen, a lawyer whose London-based firm, Cohen Davis Solicitors, specializes in stopping the viral spread of defamatory information. For France, the clearest lesson on this score came in 2012, when Closer published topless photos of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, holidaying at a French château. |
| U.S. military advisers deployed to Somalia to help African forces Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:34 PM PST The U.S. military has established a unit of fewer than five troops in Mogadishu to advise African and Somali forces as they try to take control of Somalia from the al-Qaeda-affiliated al Shabab militant group, a spokesman said on Friday. Army Colonel Tom Davis, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command, said U.S. forces began establishing the Mogadishu Coordinating Cell in October and it became fully operational in late December. The unit's establishment marks the first time U.S. troops have been deployed to Somalia since 1994, when the last American forces withdrew from the country several months after the so-called "Black Hawk Down" incident in which Somali militants shot down two helicopters and killed 18 U.S. troops. "The U.S. has established a military coordination cell in Somalia to provide planning and advisory support to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali security forces to increase their capabilities and promote peace and security throughout Somalia and the region," Davis said in a statement. |
| 500 reported killed in rebel infighting in Syria Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:23 PM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — With nearly 500 people reported killed in a week of rebel infighting, many Syrians barricaded themselves in their homes Friday, while others emerged from mosques angrily accusing an al-Qaida-linked group of hijacking their revolution.
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| Obama administration recognizes Utah same-sex marriages Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:15 PM PST  By David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said Friday it will recognize same-sex marriages in Utah - even though the state will not do so - and will provide federal benefits to about 1,400 gay couples who wed there before the Supreme Court halted the nuptials this week. President Barack Obama's Justice Department took the step two days after Gary Herbert, the Republican governor of the conservative, predominantly Mormon state, said Utah would not recognize, at least for now, the marriages of gay couples who rushed to wed after a federal judge's December 20 ruling briefly allowed such marriages. "These marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. "State agencies have always been directed to comply with federal law when providing federal services and will continue to do so," he said in a statement.
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| South Sudan retakes oil town from rebels Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:09 PM PST  JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudanese troops on Friday retook the capital of an oil-producing state from rebels loyal to the country's former vice president, a military spokesman said.
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| Hull and Everton agree Jelavic fee Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:58 PM PST  Hull City were close to signing Nikica Jelavic after agreeing a fee with Premier League rivals Everton for the Croatia striker. Both clubs confirmed the news on their Twitter feeds on Friday, with Hull saying they expected to begin discussions with Jelavic on personal terms in the next few days. "We have agreed a fee with @Everton for Nikica Jelavic, and will enter talks with the striker over the coming days," a tweet from Hull said. Hull manager Steve Bruce has made no secret of his desire to sign a striker during the January transfer window in a bid to bolster the forward power of the Tigers, currently 10th to Everton's fifth in the table.
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| Israel unveils tribute to gay victims of Nazis Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:51 PM PST  Israel unveiled Friday a memorial in Tel Aviv to remember the gay and lesbian victims of Nazi persecution, in a ceremony attended by Germany's ambassador. Members of Tel Aviv's gay community turned out to see the stone monument, modelled on the pink triangle Nazis made homosexuals wear in concentration camps during World War II, which features inscriptions in German, Hebrew and English. "In addition to the extermination of Europe's Jews, the Nazis committed many atrocities, in an attempt to destroy anyone who was considered different," Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said at the unveiling. The heart of Israel's cultural life and a bastion of secularism, Tel Aviv hosts an annual gay pride parade with relatively few objections from the country's religious community, unlike similar events in Jerusalem that have seen violence and even one stabbing.
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| Killing of boy, 4, by US troops frays Afghan ties further Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:49 PM PST  Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday condemned US troops for killing a four-year-old boy in the southern province of Helmand, in a fresh strain to troubled relations between Washington and Kabul. Helmand governor Naeem Baloch told Karzai during a meeting in Kabul about the shooting, which comes as the US and Afghanistan wrangle over a deal to allow some US troops to remain in the country after this year. The US-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan issued a statement expressing "deepest sympathies to the family who suffered the loss of a loved one" in the incident on Wednesday and vowing to investigate "what happened and why". Relations between Washington and Kabul have been poor for years, and negotiations over the bilateral security agreement (BSA) have erupted into a long-running public dispute.
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| EU says "very good progress" in nuclear talks with Iran Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:46 PM PST Senior officials from the European Union and Iran have made "very good progress" in talks in Geneva on the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal, the EU said on Friday. The officials met on Thursday and Friday to iron out remaining practical issues to put in place the November 24 deal, under which Iran agreed to curb its most sensitive atom work in return for some relief from western economic sanctions. "Deputy Secretary General (Helga) Schmid and Deputy Foreign Minister (Abbas) Araqchi made very good progress on all the pertinent issues," EU spokesman Michael Mann said, referring to the EU and Iranian officials. He added, however, that any agreements had to be validated by the governments of Iran and the six world powers negotiating with the Islamic Republic over its atom work: the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. |
| U.S. says progress made in Iran talks, but not finalized Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:46 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday that technical talks on Iran's nuclear program had made good progress, but reports that a deal had been finalized were inaccurate. "They are ongoing at this point," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a news briefing. "These are detailed technical discussions; we've made good progress over the last several days. There have been a few outstanding issues, but at this point, the reports that everything has been finalized are incorrect." (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; writing by David Brunnstrom) |
| Beware of pushing Iran too far, says UK politician Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:46 PM PST The West should not push Iran too far in talks over the Islamic republic's nuclear ambitions because failing to get a deal could bolster hardliners in Tehran, a former British foreign minister warned on Friday. But Jack Straw told the BBC he was "optimistic", on returning to London from Iran where he led a British delegation including former finance minister Norman Lamont, Conservative member of parliament Ben Wallace and Labour lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn. In an interim deal reached in Geneva on November 24, Iran agreed with world powers to freeze some of its nuclear program as the first step towards a long-term deal that many hope could resolve a dispute over its nuclear ambitions. |
| U.S. sanctions bill Iran nuclear talks 'insurance policy': Senator Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:46 PM PST By Patricia Zengerle and Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic U.S. senator leading the charge to pass new sanctions on Iran despite objections from the Obama administration said on Friday the measure is a "diplomatic insurance policy" to push Tehran to comply with agreements to curtail its nuclear program. Fifty-nine senators - 16 of them Democrats - of the 100 in the chamber were co-sponsoring the bill, despite the White House's insistence that it could imperil delicate international negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Senator Robert Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, disputed that in an op-ed published in The Washington Post on Friday, saying the bill would bolster diplomacy, not threaten it. Menendez is the main sponsor of the "Nuclear Free Iran Weapon Act," which would impose new sanctions on Tehran if it breaks an agreement to curb its nuclear program. |
| New man Suarez vows to stay out of trouble Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:40 PM PST  Liverpool striker Luis Suarez insists he has finally learnt how to keep his explosive temper and cynical instincts under control. Suarez has played a key role in Liverpool's emergence as surprise contenders for the Premier League title this season after surviving one of the darkest periods of his controversial career. The Uruguay international has played only 15 league matches this term as he had to serve the remaining half of a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in April. The season before that the 26-year-old was banned for eight matches after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.
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| Mexican judge orders two Canadian women held 40 days Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:35 PM PST  Mexico City (Mexico) (AFP) - A Mexican judge has ordered two Canadian women held for up to 40 days while prosecutors investigate the firebombing of a government office and car dealership, an official said Friday. The women, both in their 20s, were placed under Mexico's system of "arraigo" detention on Thursday along with a Mexican man. Authorities say a transport ministry office and a car dealership were hit by a Molotov cocktail in Mexico City late Monday. The women identified themselves to the authorities as Amelie Rolletier, 26, and Fallon Poisson Rovilier, 20, the official said.
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| Beauty queen's murder exposes Venezuela's crime epidemic Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:31 PM PST  Authorities only solve eight out of 100 homicides in Venezuela, emboldening criminals who have turned the South American nation into one of the world's most dangerous places outside war zones. "Public institutions in Venezuela are not doing their job of preventing and punishing crime," said crime expert Fermin Marmol. The numbers are jarring: In 1998, when late leader Hugo Chavez was first elected, around 4,550 murders were perpetrated in Venezuela. Last year, 24,000 people were killed, or 79 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the non-governmental Venezuelan Violence Observatory.
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| Yemen Qaeda releases S.Africa woman captive: mediator Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:29 PM PST  Kidnappers from Al-Qaeda in Yemen released Friday a South African woman tourist who was taken hostage in May along with her husband, who temporarily remains captive, a mediator said. The husband will be set free in the next few days," said Anas al-Hamati, adding that the "kidnappers were from Al-Qaeda." He did not give their identities, but South African media have named them as Yolande and Pierre Korkie. They were travelling from the southern region of Abyan where the woman was released -- more than 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the central city of Taiz where the couple was kidnapped.
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| West Virginia chemical spill triggers tap water ban Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:05 PM PST By Ann Moore CHARLESTON, W., Virginia (Reuters) - Up to 300,000 West Virginia residents were told not to drink tap water on Friday after a chemical spill called its safety into question, and health officials said water in the affected area should only be used for flushing toilets and fighting fires. "We don't know that the water's not safe, but I can't say it is safe," Jeff McIntyre, president of West Virginia American Water Co, told a televised news conference. The company runs the state's largest water treatment plant. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency for nine counties, and President Barack Obama issued an emergency declaration on Friday. |
| Palestinian prisoner's wife has baby from smuggled sperm Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:03 PM PST  Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - The wife of a Palestinian jailed in Israel gave birth in the Gaza Strip after being impregnated by sperm smuggled out of an Israeli prison, a prisoner association said on Friday. While such births have been declared among West Bank wives of prisoners in Israel, this was the first such occasion in the besieged Gaza Strip, director of the Waed Gaza prisoner association Saber Abu Karsh told AFP.
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| IMF hails Mali's economic management, sees bright future Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:41 PM PST  International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said Friday there was "great hope" for battle-scarred Mali's future, predicting healthy GDP growth of 6.6 percent and praising its management of the economy. "I am very hopeful given the perseverance and courage of the people of Mali. The IMF has been, is and will remain a committed economic development partner of Mali," she told a news conference in the capital Bamako. Lagarde, wrapping up a three-day visit to the west African nation, said the gradual resumption of international aid and business investment was gradually helping Mali back onto its feet.
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| Exclusive: Iran, Russia negotiating big oil-for-goods deal Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:41 PM PST  By Jonathan Saul and Parisa Hafezi LONDON/ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billion a month that would enable Iran to lift oil exports substantially, undermining Western sanctions that helped persuade Tehran in November to agree to a preliminary deal to curb its nuclear program. Russian and Iranian sources close to the barter negotiations said final details were in discussion for a deal under which Russia would buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods. "Our officials are discussing the matter with the Russians and hopefully it will be inked soon, regardless of whether we can reach a (nuclear) agreement in Geneva." It is not clear whether the deal would be implemented before the finalization of a nuclear agreement outlined in Geneva in November between Iran and six world powers. Nor is it clear how Russia would justify to other powers a barter deal that could jeopardize the nuclear negotiations by easing the economic pressure on Iran.
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| Britain closer to EU referendum as bill clears hurdle Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:40 PM PST  Britain's planned referendum on membership of the European Union passed its first hurdle in parliament's upper house on Friday, but lawmakers warned that the bill could be killed off by delays. The bill -- which is backed by Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party and guarantees a public vote on EU membership by 2017 -- passed the "second reading" stage unopposed in the House of Lords after a marathon seven-hour debate. But there were warnings from members of the Conservatives' coalition partners, the pro-EU Liberal Democrat party, as well as opposition Labour peers that the bill could face such heavy delays that it could be scuppered altogether. Lawmakers intend to table a series of amendments to the European Union (Referendum) Bill.
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| C.African president resigns after deadly unrest Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:31 PM PST  N'Djamena (AFP) - Central African Republic President Michel Djotodia stepped down under regional pressure on Friday after failing to stem sectarian violence ripping his country apart. His resignation sparked jubilation in the strife-torn capital Bangui, with many residents expressing hope the violence would now subside. In Bangui, news that both Djotodia and Prime Minister Nicolas Tiengaye had resigned was greeted with joy, with thousands of people descending on the streets, shouting "it's over, it's over".
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| Iraq’s Crisis: Can the Sunni Awakening Rise Again? Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:31 PM PST For nearly a week, media reports from Iraq were eerily similar to those half a decade ago: fierce clashes had erupted between Iraqi troops and al-Qaeda insurgents in Anbar province. A wide expanse of farmland and desert that extends from the western Baghdad suburbs to the Syrian border, Anbar was the scene of some of the most brutal fighting of the Iraq War, where more than 1,300 American troops lost their lives and nearly ten thousand more Iraqis. The news that hit many American veterans the hardest was that fighters affiliated with al-Qaeda had taken control of Fallujah, Anbar's second-largest city, where the U.S. fought two large, bloody battles in the spring and fall of 2004. "At the moment, there is no presence of the Iraqi state in Fallujah," a local journalist, who was not named for safety reasons, told the Washington Post. "The police and the army have abandoned the city, al-Qaeda has taken down all the Iraqi flags and burned them, and it has raised its own flag on all the buildings." |
