| In war or withdrawal, Sharon marched to his own drum Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:37 PM PST By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A maverick in war and politics, Israel's Ariel Sharon reshaped the Middle East in a career marked by adventurism and disgrace, dramatic reversals and stunning rebounds. Loathed by many Arabs and a divisive figure within Israel, Sharon left his mark on the region as perhaps no other through military invasion, Jewish settlement building on captured land and a shock decision to pull out of Gaza. Some diplomats believed that had he remained in good health, he would have secured peace with the Palestinians after overcoming domestic critics to force through the withdrawal of troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005. "As one who fought in all of Israel's wars, and learned from personal experience that without proper force, we do not have a chance of surviving in this region ... I have also learned from experience that the sword alone cannot decide this bitter dispute in this land," Sharon said in 2004, explaining his move. |
| Former Israeli PM and military commander Ariel Sharon dead at 85 Posted: 11 Jan 2014 10:55 AM PST  By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, the trailblazing warrior-statesman who stunned Arab foes with his dramatic turnarounds, died on Saturday aged 85, after eight years in a coma caused by a stroke. Sharon left historic footprints on the Middle East through military invasion and Jewish settlement-building on occupied land the Palestinians seek for a state but also with a shock decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. The United States and other foreign powers mourned Sharon as a peacemaker, noting his late pursuit of dialogue with the Palestinians. Those negotiations continue under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though differences remain wide.
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| Analysis: A man of war, was Sharon the last leader able to bring peace? Posted: 11 Jan 2014 09:35 AM PST  By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - As Israel prepares to bury former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, it might also be saying goodbye to the last man capable of enacting the sort of tough decisions needed to secure peace with the Palestinians. Eight years after a stroke pitched him into a coma, Israelis and Palestinians continue to grope for a deal in terms bequeathed by Sharon, a war hero at home and a war criminal to Arabs, a hawkish prophet of settlement on occupied land who dramatically gave up Gaza in what he called a bid for peace. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who replaced Sharon as head of the right-wing Likud when the party rebelled in 2005 against the withdrawal of settlers from the Gaza Strip, has since endorsed relinquishing land for peace, in principle - a minimal condition for any accord with the Palestinians.
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| Obama honors Sharon's dedication to Israel, Biden to go to funeral Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:35 PM PST  By Steve Holland and Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday lauded the late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's dedication to the Jewish state and reaffirmed an "unshakable commitment" to Israel's security as Vice President Joe Biden prepared to attend the funeral. Obama called Sharon - who died at age 85 on Saturday and had been in a coma for the entirety of Obama's presidency - "a leader who dedicated his life to the state of Israel." He said he sent his "deepest condolences" to Sharon's family. The United States has long been a critical ally of Israel.
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| Iran nuclear bill would have consequences, nuclear chief says Posted: 11 Jan 2014 10:17 AM PST  By Babak Dehghanpisheh BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran will have no choice but to step up its uranium enrichment if a bill now moving through parliament is approved, even though it has no current need for such highly-enriched uranium, its nuclear chief said on Saturday. The bill has received expressions of support from at least 218 of parliament's 290 members and, if passed, could threaten progress toward a resolution of Iran's long-running row with the international community over its nuclear program, on which a landmark interim agreement was struck last November. The parliament is much more hawkish than Iran's new president Hassan Rouhani on the nuclear issue, although some see the proposal, put forward last month, as a response to a bill introduced by conservatives in the U.S. Senate that would impose new sanctions on Iran. Iran has stockpiles of uranium enriched to 5 percent fissile purity, sufficient for nuclear power stations, and 20 percent, of great concern to major powers because it is a relatively short technical step from weapons-grade.
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| India says U.S. could have avoided 'mini-crisis,' more to be done Posted: 11 Jan 2014 08:53 AM PST  By Frank Jack Daniel NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India on Saturday blamed the United States for a "mini crisis" over the arrest and strip search of an Indian envoy, and said more work was needed to repair ties a day after the withdrawal of diplomats seemed to draw a line under the dispute. Devyani Khobragade, 39, who was India's deputy consul-general in New York, was arrested in December on charges of visa fraud and lying to U.S. authorities about what she paid her housekeeper. Khobragade's arrest and strip-search provoked protests in India and dealt a serious blow to U.S. efforts to strengthen ties. Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said the United States should have warned senior officials visiting Washington a day before Khobragade's arrest by State Department security in December.
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| Tap water fix in West Virginia still days away, official says Posted: 11 Jan 2014 04:53 PM PST  By Ann Moore CHARLESTON, W., Virginia (Reuters) - Tap water in Charleston, West Virginia, and nearby communities will remain unsafe in the coming days, an official said on Saturday as residents spent a third day unable to bathe, shower or drink from the faucet due to a chemical spill tainting the Elk River. As much as 5,000 gallons (18,927 liters) of industrial chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, or Crude MCHM, leaked into the river on Thursday, state officials said. The spill came from a tank belonging to Freedom Industries, a Charleston company that produces specialty chemicals for the mining, steel and cement industries, authorities said. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin on Friday declared a state of emergency for nine counties, with the affected area including Charleston, the state's largest city and its capital.
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| Libya's deputy industry minister shot dead: security official Posted: 11 Jan 2014 04:31 PM PST  Tripoli (AFP) - Libya's deputy industry minister, Hassan al-Droui, was shot dead during a visit to his hometown of Sirte, east of Tripoli, security and hospital sources said Sunday.
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| Hypnotist Scott Lewis dies in Sydney balcony fall Posted: 11 Jan 2014 04:27 PM PST CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — U.S. stage hypnotist Scott Lewis has plunged to his death from the balcony of a Sydney apartment, Australian police said on Sunday. |
| Two more Greek far-right party MPs jailed before trial Posted: 11 Jan 2014 04:09 PM PST Two lawmakers from Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party were remanded to custody on Saturday pending trial on charges of belonging to a criminal group, on what prosecutors say is evidence linking the party to a series of attacks, including the killing of an anti-racism rapper in 2013. Lawmakers Yorgos Germenis and Panagiotis Iliopoulos are the latest senior party officials to be jailed pending trial as part of a government crackdown on the party, which it has branded a "neo-Nazi criminal gang." Both men denied charges against them in a marathon plea session before investigating magistrates that ended late on Saturday after more than 12 hours. All Golden Dawn lawmakers deny involvement in the killing. "Golden Dawn is a legitimate political party taking on a sincere political struggle," Iliopoulos told reporters earlier on Saturday, flanked by dozens of flag-waving supporters, some chanting the party's "Blood! Honour! Golden Dawn! slogan. |
| Two more Greek far right MPs behind bars Posted: 11 Jan 2014 03:53 PM PST  Two Golden Dawn lawmakers were placed in pre-trial detention late on Saturday in Athens in an ongoing crackdown against the Greek far right group, court officials said. Giorgos Germenis and Panayiotis Iliopoulos have previously been charged with joining and directing a criminal organisation, officials added. Another politician, Stathis Boukouras, who faces the same charges, also appeared before magistrates but his fate regarding jail will be decided on Sunday. Three other of the 18 Golden Dawn members of parliament, among them the leader Nikos Michaloliakos, are already behind bars.
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| Africa sees violent, deadly start to 2014 Posted: 11 Jan 2014 03:40 PM PST  NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The death tolls are huge and the individual incidents gruesome. One estimate says nearly 10,000 people have been killed in South Sudan in a month of warfare, while in neighboring Central African Republic combatants in Muslim-vs.-Christian battles have beheaded children.
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| Sharon, Israel's bulldozer in politics, dies at 85 Posted: 11 Jan 2014 03:17 PM PST  JERUSALEM (AP) — It was vintage Ariel Sharon: His hefty body bobbing behind a wall of security men, the ex-general led a march onto a Jerusalem holy site, staking a bold claim to a shrine that has been in contention from the dawn of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
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| Lawmakers pledge to continue probing New Jersey bridge scandal Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:59 PM PST  By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey lawmakers on Saturday pledged to continue to seek more details in the bridge scandal engulfing Governor Chris Christie, with the Democratic Assembly speaker-elect saying he planned to call the body into special session. At issue is the role of the governor, his staff and political allies in the closing of lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge and the huge traffic jams that resulted. The calls for a continued legislative investigation came a day after more than 1,000 pages of papers subpoenaed by state lawmakers were made public. The papers relate to revelations that a member of Christie's staff appeared to have orchestrated the traffic jams, which severely affected the town of Fort Lee over four days in September, in what may have been political payback because the town's Democratic mayor did not endorse Christie's re-election.
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| Obama says Sharon dedicated his life to Israel Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:59 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Saturday remembered former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "commitment to his country," and Vice President Joe Biden will lead the U.S. delegation for the memorial service.
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| Osmond captures Canadian women's crown Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:56 PM PST  Kaetlyn Osmond captured the women's title at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships for the second year in a row by winning Saturday's free skate final. Osmond, eighth at last year's world championships, claimed the overall title with 207.24 points. Gabrielle Daleman, only 15 years old, finished second in the free skate on 124.09 to claim second-place overall on 182.47. Former Canadian champion Amelie Lacoste, second after Friday's short program, settled for fifth in the free skate and fell to third overall on 166.69.
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| Ex-Israel premier Sharon dead at 85 Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:49 PM PST  Former Israeli premier Ariel Sharon died in hospital near Tel Aviv Saturday after eight years in a coma, prompting a flood of tributes in Israel but contempt from Palestinians. Sharon had been comatose since January 4, 2006, after suffering a massive stroke. Professor Shlomo Noy of Sheba hospital said Sharon's heart "had weakened" and that he died at around 1200 GMT. Sharon's body would lie in state at Jerusalem's Knesset, or parliament, on Sunday to enable citizens to pay their final respects between 1000 GMT and 1600 GMT, a statement from the prime minister's office said.
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| Milan Fashion Week seeks renewal Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:47 PM PST  MILAN (AP) — It was out with the old, and in with the new as Milan Fashion Week got under way Saturday.
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| Kiss makes surprise Milan Fashion Week appearance Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:44 PM PST  MILAN (AP) — Gene Simmons wagged his trademark tongue as an all-glammed-up Kiss swept down the John Varvatos runway in an unannounced appearance during Milan Fashion Week.
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| Crowds defy Madrid in sensitive Basque demo Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:19 PM PST  Bilbao (Spain) (AFP) - Tens of thousands of protesters in Spain's Basque Country defied Madrid on Saturday by holding a mass demonstration marked by tensions over jailed members of the armed separatist group ETA. Crowds filled the streets in the northern city of Bilbao in a march for "human rights, understanding and peace", after a judge banned another demonstration planned to demand concessions for the prisoners. The treatment of imprisoned ETA convicts is one of the most delicate issues in a standoff between the authorities and western Europe's last major armed secessionist movement. Organisers had called for a silent demo but cries of "Basque prisoners home!" rang out and demonstrators applauded prisoners' family members who marched with white scarves around their necks.
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| Jailed Kurd leader warns peace process cannot remain in 'limbo' Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:16 PM PST  Jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan warned in a statement on Saturday that the peace process initiated with the Turkish state cannot remain in limbo forever, and urged the government to act. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) declared a truce last March after months of clandestine negotiations with the Turkish spy agency. But the peace process stalled in September after Kurdish rebels announced they were suspending their retreat from Turkish soil, accusing the government of failing to deliver on promised reforms. In December, the Turkish government formally submitted to parliament a package of reforms aimed at boosting the rights of the country's Kurdish community.
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| Agrochemical companies sue to block anti-GMO law in Hawaii Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:12 PM PST  By Christopher D'Angelo LIHUE, Hawaii (Reuters) - Three of the world's largest agrochemical companies have filed a lawsuit in Hawaii to block a law enacted on the island of Kauai in November to limit the planting of biotech crops and the use of pesticides. DuPont, Syngenta and Agrigenetics Inc, a company affiliated with the Dow AgroSciences unit of Dow Chemical Co, filed suit Friday in U.S. district court in Honolulu. The suit claims the action in Kauai is unconstitutional and seeks an injunction permanently barring enforcement of provisions of the law.
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| Violence-wracked Venezuela targets police corruption Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:09 PM PST  Venezuela urged police Saturday to report corruption in their ranks seen as part of the violent crime crisis, after a famous ex-beauty queen was slain. In this violent crime-wracked nation, Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez gave out his cellular number during an address and asked police to call him to report corruption. Report them fearlessly because their (corruption) undermines police authority for the Venezuelan people," Rodriguez said in the address carried on state television. Experts often cite corruption as part of the crime crisis.
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| Iran defends development of advanced centrifuges Posted: 11 Jan 2014 02:02 PM PST  Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi on Saturday defended Tehran's "right" to carry out research on advanced centrifuges, media reported. Iran and world powers agreed Friday on how to implement a landmark deal reached in November on containing Tehran's nuclear programme, but it must still be approved by each country before it can take effect. "Advanced centrifuges, which are Iran's right (to use), were one of the points of disagreement raised by the other party," Salehi was quoted as saying by Fars news agency. Under the November deal, Tehran agreed to curb parts of its nuclear drive for six months in exchange for receiving modest relief from international sanctions and a promise by Western powers not to impose new measures against its hard-hit economy.
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| Basque protesters rally in support of ETA prisoners Posted: 11 Jan 2014 01:08 PM PST  Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Bilbao in Spain's northern Basque Country on Saturday in support of jailed members of the Basque separatist group ETA, defying a court ban from Madrid. But two of the region's main political parties - the Basque pro-independence party Bildu and the more moderate nationalist PNV (Partido Nacionalista Vasco) - joined forces to restyle the rally as a march for "human rights, understanding and peace". The treatment of ETA prisoners is an awkward one for the Madrid government, which would be certain to anger victims' associations if it made any concessions to the prisoners. ETA - or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, which means Basque Homeland and Freedom in Basque - is accused of killing more than 800 people over more than four decades, many with car bombs.
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| Indonesia's law on ore exports takes effect Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:40 PM PST JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian law banning the export of unprocessed minerals took effect Sunday. |
| Vigil held for death that led to English riots Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:28 PM PST  Several hundred demonstrators rallied outside a London police station Saturday to condemn an inquest which found that the killing of an armed man by an officer in 2011 was lawful, a shooting that sparked nationwide riots. They condemned the "perverse" jury verdict returned on Wednesday over the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot after armed police stopped the taxi he was in as they trailed it through Tottenham, north London, in August 2011. The peaceful protesters gathered outside Tottenham police station held placards reading "Justice for Mark Duggan", and heard from other families whose relatives have died in incidents involving the police. Speaking from the police station steps -- with few officers in sight -- Duggan's aunt Carole told supporters: "Mark is not the first person to die at the hands of the police.
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| S.Africa's ANC promises voters 'radical' economic change Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:25 PM PST  Nelspruit (South Africa) (AFP) - South Africa's President Jacob Zuma on Saturday kicked off his party's election campaign with a slew of promises to crack down on rampant graft and poverty, in a bid to woo disenchanted voters. The ruling African National Congress is facing a tough election with the voters who have kept them in power for two decades increasingly disillusioned by social problems, unemployment and corruption scandals. Wearing bright yellow ANC T-shirts, supporters sang and danced to old liberation songs. Some chanted pro-Zuma slogans to show support for their embattled leader, who was lat month booed by angry South Africans in front of dozens of world leaders during Nelson Mandela's memorial service.
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| Syrian troops advance on Aleppo area: activists Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:23 PM PST  Syrian troops seized a rebel-held town north of Aleppo Saturday and pushed toward part of Aleppo city, taking advantage of fighting between rebels and jihadists elsewhere, activists said. "Regime forces have taken over the area of Naqarin and are advancing towards the industrial area of Aleppo city," said the Aleppo Media Centre, a network of activists on the ground. "This advance is clearly a result of the rebels being busy fighting Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," activist Nazeer al-Khatib told AFP in a Skype call. The army's moves come eight days after Islamist and moderate rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad's regime launched a major offensive against ISIL.
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| Sharon's death sparks joy in Sabra, Shatila massacre camps Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:22 PM PST  Adel Makki rushed into the street in Beirut's Shatila Palestinian refugee camp Saturday to hand out sweets when he learned of the death of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli leader Palestinians blame for a massacre of hundreds there and in the nearby Sabra camp. "I was relieved when I found out that Sharon was dead. Over three days, beginning on September 16, 1982, hundreds of men, women and children were massacred in Sabra and Shatila on the southern outskirts of Beirut. Israel had invaded Lebanon three months before, and the brutal killings, the work of Israel's Lebanese Phalangist allies, were carried out as Israeli troops surrounded the camps.
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| Toulon, Clermont, Munster into European Cup quarter-finals Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:21 PM PST  Defending champions Toulon, heavyweight French rivals Clermont, and former winners Munster all secured places in the quarter-finals of the European Cup on Saturday. The day's results also ensured Ulster and Leicester advance into the last eigh. A Jonny Wilkinson-skippered Toulon side had too much power for Cardiff Blues in Pool 2, running out 43-20 winners thanks largely to a completely dominant scrum. A bonus point for a fourth try at the death - unusually a third penalty try, set Toulon atop their pool on 20 points, with the Blues in second on 13.
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| Avenging United stop rot, Chelsea go top in Premier League Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:19 PM PST  Manchester United stemmed a run of three consecutive defeats by avenging last weekend's FA Cup loss to Swansea City with a 2-0 win over the Welsh club on Saturday. Defeats by Tottenham Hotspur, Swansea and Sunderland had left United at risk of losing four successive games for the first time since 1961, but they blew off the cobwebs with an improved display at Old Trafford. Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck claimed second-half goals to leave United four points outside the Premier League's top four in seventh place, six days after Swansea had dumped them out of the FA Cup on the same pitch.
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| Four years after earthquake, Haiti still in ruins Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:07 PM PST  Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Four years after Haiti was hit by a violent earthquake, the dragging pace of reconstruction is nowhere more apparent than the capital, where its landmark presidential palace and cathedral remain in ruins. Devastation caused by the January 12, 2010 disaster, which killed more than 250,000 people, is still felt keenly in Port-au-Prince, the capital of the Americas' poorest country. "We are going to press on the accelerator to advance the main projects, and Haitians will be proud of reconstruction," Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe told the press Friday, presenting models of several public buildings that are under construction. Faced with criticism over the slow rebuilding of administrative buildings, including the legislative palace, Lamothe called on Haitians to unite together.
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| No tears for Sharon at site of Sabra and Shatila massacre Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:06 PM PST By Alexander Dziadosz BEIRUT (Reuters) - Abu Jamal still remembers when Lebanese militiamen allied to Israel woke him and his family early one September morning more than three decades ago and dragged them out into the street. The gunmen forced him and other Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila camps to line up, separated the men and women, and dragged young men from the line to be killed. Abu Jamal's son, 19 at the time, was among those they chose. "He was in his last year of school," said Abu Jamal, who wears a button with his son's picture on his sweater and asked that his full name not be used. |
| Palestinians cheer death of Sharon, a bitter foe Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:05 PM PST  RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Ariel Sharon's death Saturday elicited a wide range of responses from Palestinians, but sadness wasn't one: Some cheered and distributed sweets while others prayed for divine punishment for the former Israeli leader or recalled his central role in some of the bloodiest episodes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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| Ukraine ex-minister beaten in fresh Kiev clashes Posted: 11 Jan 2014 11:49 AM PST  Ukraine's ex-interior minister turned opposition leader Yuriy Lutsenko was in hospital with concussion Saturday after being beaten in fresh clashes between pro-EU demonstrators and club-wielding police. Ruling party lawmaker Yuriy Polyachenko, who visited the hospital, said Lutsenko had been transferred out of intensive care and was "in a stable condition". A few hundred nationalist demonstrators protested late Friday outside a Kiev court that had earlier in the day sentenced three men to six years in prison for allegedly plotting to blow up a statue of Soviet founder Lenin near the city's main airport in 2011. Ukrainian television showed several protesters being carried by stretcher to an ambulance that had been rushed to the scene.
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| Leaders, others react to the death of Ariel Sharon Posted: 11 Jan 2014 11:48 AM PST  Here is a selection of reactions from world leaders and others to the death of former Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was both admired and despised for his bold style and hard-driving tactics.
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| EU's Ashton 'deeply concerned' over Israel settlements Posted: 11 Jan 2014 11:42 AM PST  The European Union's foreign policy supremo said Saturday she was "deeply concerned" by what she said were "illegal" Israeli plans for more than 1,800 new settler homes. "I was deeply concerned to hear the latest announcement by the Israeli authorities to advance settlement plans once more," Catherine Ashton said in a statement. She added the settlements were "illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make the two-state solution impossible". She reiterated her call on Israel to cease its settlement building and said current efforts at peace talks were a "unique opportunity" for both sides.
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