| Egyptians back constitution, opening way to Sisi presidential run Posted: 16 Jan 2014 11:53 AM PST By Tom Perry and Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians overwhelmingly approved a new constitution by referendum, state media reported on Thursday, a widely expected outcome that nudges army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ever closer to a bid for the presidency. The vote advances a transition plan the military-backed government unveiled after deposing Islamist president Mohamed Mursi last July following mass unrest over his rule. The constitution won wide support among the many Egyptians who favored Mursi's removal. The Muslim Brotherhood had called for a boycott, saying the vote was part of a coup that deposed an elected leader and revived a brutal police state. |
| Destruction of most dangerous Syrian chemicals may be delayed Posted: 16 Jan 2014 03:56 PM PST  By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - The removal and destruction of the most dangerous agents in Syria's chemical arsenal will likely be delayed because of security and logistical problems, but the final deadline of the end of June for eliminating all chemicals remains, the head of the world's chemical weapons watchdog said on Thursday. The goal for eradicating mustard gas and principal chemical components for making Sarin and VX - known as "priority A" chemicals - was originally the end of March. Syria has already missed a December 31 goal to transport the most toxic substances to a port and so far has loaded only a relatively small amount of chemicals - around 5 percent, according to a senior Western diplomat in New York - onto the Danish cargo ship Ark Futura. Ahmet Uzumcu, head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said he was "confident" that all the chemicals could be destroyed by the end of June - the original deadline for the complete elimination of Syria's chemical weapons program and associated agents.
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| Netanyahu says EU states summon Israeli envoys over settlements Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:44 PM PST  By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday some European Union states had called in Israeli ambassadors to hear protests at Israel's latest announcement of settlement-building and he criticized the move as "hypocritical". Last week, Israel issued tenders for 1,400 new homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, part of the territory Palestinians want for a state. Most countries deem Israel's settlements illegal and an obstacle to peacemaking. ...
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| Ukrainian parliament pushes through sweeping anti-protest law Posted: 16 Jan 2014 03:25 PM PST  Supporters of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich hustled a sweeping law through parliament on Thursday in an attempt to curb anti-government protests, sparking an outcry from the opposition and raising tensions on the streets. The law, backed by deputies from Yanukovich's Regions Party and allies, also adopted a similar stance to Russia on registration of foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs), insisting they should pay taxes on profit. NGOs that were financed from abroad and took part in political activity in Ukraine would be categorized as "foreign agents", it said. But the law, which ran to more than 100 pages, appeared directed mainly at preparing the ground for action to end the street protests that have been taking place in the capital Kiev and some other cities since November.
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| Australia says breached Indonesian territory while blocking refugee boats Posted: 16 Jan 2014 03:24 PM PST  Australia's government on Friday acknowledged its navy breached Indonesian territorial sovereignty several times as part of its controversial operations to stop boats carrying would-be asylum seekers from entering Australian waters. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said he had been informed earlier this week about the "inadvertent breaches" and immediately informed the Indonesian navy. Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, the officer in charge of "Operation Sovereign Borders", said the breaches occurred on multiple days but declined to provide further details. "However the Australian government remains committed to continuing to implement the policies to stop the boats." The number of refugees reaching Australia pales in comparison with other countries but it is a polarizing political issue that also stokes tension with neighboring Indonesia over border policies that have been criticized by the United Nations and international human rights groups.
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| 'Seeds of genocide' in Central African Republic, U.N. warns Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:57 PM PST  By Emmanuel Braun and Tom Miles BANGUI/GENEVA (Reuters) - A senior U.N. official warned of the risk of genocide in Central African Republic without a more robust international response to communal bloodshed in which at least 20 more people were killed on Thursday. More than a million people have been displaced by the violence since Seleka installed their leader Michel Djotodia as interim president. Over 1,000 people were killed last month alone in the capital Bangui, prompting neighboring countries to evacuate more than 30,000 of their citizens. There has been relative calm since Djotodia resigned last week under intense international pressure, but sporadic violence has persisted in Bangui.
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| UN says South Sudan civilians tied and shot in war Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:42 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (United States) (AFP) - A UN rights envoy in South Sudan said Thursday he had seen bodies in the streets that had been tied before being shot as the global body stepped up warnings over rights abuses. The UN has accused forces of President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar of carrying out atrocities in the conflict that started on December 25. Amid mounting reports of mass killings in several towns, UN assistant secretary general Ivan Simonovic said 92 UN investigators are in the country and a first report would be released in about two weeks. Speaking after a visit to the Unity state capital of Bentiu, Simonovic said it had been left a "ghost town" by successive raids by the rival forces.
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| In lair of Mexico drug boss, vigilantes hold sway Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:39 PM PST By Simon Gardner NUEVA ITALIA, Mexico (Reuters) - His AK-47 tossed onto a pristine leather sofa in the plush lair of a leader of one of Mexico's most feared drug cartels, vigilante fighter "El Love" says he is longing for an end to a grinding cycle of extortion and murder. Channel-surfing on a plasma TV abandoned by the drug lord fleeing a revolt by farmers fed up with organized crime, the 43-year-old El Love has taken charge of the property, symbolizing a victory over the Caballeros Templarios, or Knights Templar. The Knights Templar pose the biggest security challenge yet for President Enrique Pena Nieto, by taking a firm grip on large areas of Michoacan, an impoverished agricultural state which is also home to Mexico's biggest cargo port. For now though, heavily armed vigilante groups have struck back, occupying much of the Knights' heartland with federal forces standing by - raising questions about how the government will restore order in a state that has been lawless for years. |
| Probe highlights risk from South Africa's drug-resistant TB Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:31 PM PST  A long-term probe has found that South Africans with highly drug-resistant TB are "systematically" discharged from hospital without being cured, placing themselves and others at risk, its authors said Friday. "Treatment failure and discharge of such patients into the wider community is occurring systematically on a country-wide level," said Keertan Dheda, a University of Cape Town professor of pulmonology who led the study. Experts have long warned that patients with drug-resistant TB who are released without support have a low chance of survival -- and may also infect others with the dangerous germ. Reporting in The Lancet, Dheda's team followed 107 people in three provinces who had been hospitalised with extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis -- meaning they had failed to respond to most or all the main classes of antibiotics.
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| Mexico anti-drug militias return land to villagers Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:26 PM PST  Tancitaro (México) (AFP) - Mexican vigilante militias battling drug-traffickers in the restive state of Michoacan said Thursday they had returned several hundred acres of land seized from villagers by the notorious Knights Templar cartel. The symbolic handover of some 654 acres (265 hectares) of land, which included many avocado and lemon orchards, took place in the village square of Tancitaro in the Michoacan highlands. Let's get them out of our land," militia leader Estanislao Beltran told AFP at the end of the ceremony. Civilians first took up arms in February 2013 to oust the Knights Templar from the region, saying local police were either colluding with gangs or unable to deal with the violence and extortion rackets.
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| White House releases summary of six-month Iran nuclear plan Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:23 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday released a summary of the deal reached between six major world powers and Iran to curb its nuclear program, responding to calls from the U.S. Congress and other groups for more transparency about what the agreement entails. Iran has denied it wants to use the program to eventually build nuclear weapons but agreed to scale it back after the international community applied strict financial and oil sanctions. The White House gave Congress access to the full text of technical instructions for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) but released a detailed four-page summary of the deal to the public. "It is the preference of the IAEA that certain technical aspects of the technical understandings remain confidential," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
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| Australia sorry for "inadvertent" violations of Indonesian waters Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:23 PM PST  The Australian government said Friday it had apologised unreservedly to Jakarta after its navy "inadvertently" violated Indonesian waters, but vowed to pursue a hardline policy to halt asylum-seeker boats. "We deeply regret these events," Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told a press conference. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Thursday night offered her Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa "an unqualified apology on behalf of the Australian government for inadvertently entering Indonesia's territorial waters," Morrison said. Morrison said Australia's embassy in Jakarta would make a formal apology Friday.
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| Scientists seek cause of catastrophic fish kill in Nevada lake Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:22 PM PST Biologists scrambled on Thursday to unravel the mystery behind a massive fish kill in a popular manmade lake in Nevada that draws thousands of anglers each winter for prized game fish such as trout. More than 100,000 stocked fish such as bass and catfish are estimated to have perished in the lake in the northern city of Sparks in recent weeks in an unprecedented die-off that has destroyed the entire fishery, said Chris Healy, spokesman for the state Department of Wildlife. "We're seeing oxygen levels that are totally lethal to fish," Healy said. The depleted oxygen levels pose no threat to human or pet health, and sampling of the water shows no evidence of pollution or contaminants, said Adam Mayberry, spokesman for the city of Sparks. |
| Vatican comes under sharp criticism for sex abuse Posted: 16 Jan 2014 03:50 PM PST GENEVA (AP) — It resembled a courtroom cross-examination, except no question was off-limits, dodging the answer wasn't an option and the proceedings were webcast live. |
| EU poised to suspend some sanctions on Iran Posted: 16 Jan 2014 03:42 PM PST  BRUSSELS (AP) — Sometime between breakfast and lunchtime Monday, a message will arrive in Belgium's capital that should set in motion an international diplomatic machine, affect billions of dollars blocked in banks and have repercussions from U.S. college campuses to oil tankers on the seas.
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| Mexico gov't warns vigilantes could copy cartel Posted: 16 Jan 2014 03:40 PM PST  TANCITARO, Mexico (AP) — Armed vigilantes who have taken control of territory in lawless Michoacan could turn into the very sort of organized crime forces they're fighting, a Mexican official assigned to clean up the violence-wracked state said Thursday.
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| Canadian foreign minister demands Keystone decision Posted: 16 Jan 2014 03:19 PM PST  Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird called Thursday for the United States to finally decide, one way or another, whether it will permit the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. After years of delay to the pipeline, intended to carry heavy crude from Alberta's oil sands south to Texas refineries, Baird suggested Canada's patience was running thin with its southern neighbor, already the biggest buyer of Canadian oil. "The time for Keystone is now," he said in a speech to the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington. "I'll go further -- the time for a decision on Keystone is now, even if it's not the right one.
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| Israeli PM meets Jordan king, insists on border security Posted: 16 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid down demands for security arrangements between a future Palestinian state and Jordan, in a rare visit Thursday to Amman. Netanyahu was in Jordan for unannounced talks with King Abdullah II on the US-brokered Middle East peace process. The visit follows US Secretary of State John Kerry's 10th trip to the region, as Washington tries to push Israel and the Palestinians towards an elusive peace deal after decades of conflict and months of deadlocked negotiations. Palestinian leaders meanwhile accused Israel of imposing its own agenda on the talks that Kerry kick-started in July, saying its intense focus on the security issue, and on Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, was sidelining more crucial sticking points.
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| Turkey purges top prosecutors amid corruption scandal Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:54 PM PST  Turkish authorities removed several prosecutors from key posts on Thursday in the latest fallout from the high-level corruption scandal plaguing the government. The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), which is headed by Turkey's justice minister, said that 20 prosecutors were being reassigned including the chief Istanbul prosecutor Turhan Colakkadi. It also announced it had approved a probe into several top prosecutors who led the high-level corruption inquiry that became public last month and have already been removed from their positions. The government has embarked on a mass purge of police and prosecutors in the wake of the probe that has ensnared key allies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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| UN warns against delayed action on global warming Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:51 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. experts are warning that the level of global warming gases is rising rapidly, and delaying action will reduce options for dealing with the worst impacts of climate change. |
| White House releases Iran implementation agreement Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:46 PM PST  The White House released a summary of the implementation deal that accompanies a six-month interim nuclear agreement with Iran on Thursday, to ease pressure from domestic opponents of the pact. The summary of "technical understandings" includes a timetable for inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities by UN watchdog the International Economic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials. It also contains a payment schedule for nearly $7 billion in blocked Iranian foreign exchange holdings, a modest easing of sanctions in return for a freeze on some parts of the Iranian nuclear program. Most of the data in the public document had been made available previously in various press briefings after the deal was reached last year and after implementation terms were agreed at talks in Geneva last week.
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| Wildfire rages in forest outside Los Angeles Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:42 PM PST Residents flee fire which broke out before dawn in the Angeles National Forest. |
| Al-Qaida asks Iraqis in embattled city for support Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:31 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Members of al-Qaida's branch in Iraq handed out pamphlets in Fallujah on Thursday, urging people to take up arms and back them in their weekslong fight against government troops for control of the city. |
| Top Iraq lawmaker to visit Washington next week Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:23 PM PST By Missy Ryan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The speaker of Iraq's parliament, Usama al-Nujaifi, will visit Washington next week to meet with senior Obama administration officials as Iraq seeks to fend off a surge in violence. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Nujaifi, one of most senior politicians from Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority, would make the visit in response to an invitation made last fall by Vice President Joe Biden. Biden has played a leading role in U.S. dealings with Iraq as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has sought to reverse a surge in violence over the last year, and especially as the Iraqi leader hopes to rebuff a campaign by al Qaeda-linked militants to take over parts of western Iraq. |
| Kentucky offers 7G reward for tips on whooping crane shooter Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:22 PM PST Kentucky is offering a $7,200 reward to anyone who can lead authorities to the person or people responsible for shooting two endangered whooping cranes that arrived in the state this winter. The two 5-foot (1.5-meter) tall, pure white birds, who were mates, were killed around Thanksgiving in central Kentucky, according to U.S. officials. Fewer than 500 whooping cranes live in the wild in the United States, making them the world's most endangered crane species, said Tom MacKenzie a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday. Only seven spend their winters in Kentucky. |
| Actress sues magazine over Hollande affair report Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:17 PM PST  Actress Julie Gayet is suing Closer, the magazine that reported she had an affair with French President Francois Hollande, a spokesman for the glossy weekly told AFP on Thursday. The move, under France's strict privacy legislation, came as concern mounted over the well-being of First Lady Valerie Trierweiler, who was hospitalised last Friday, hours after the magazine revealed her partner's liaison with Gayet. In a revelation that added to the growing impression that Hollande is seeking to end the relationship, a source close to the couple said Hollande had not been to see Trierweiler since she was admitted to Paris's Pitie-Salpetriere -- a leading hospital but significantly not the one where major public figures get treatment. Closer said Gayet, 41, was seeking 50,000 euros in damages and 4,000 euros in legal costs over the magazine's publication of photos of her and Hollande arriving separately for trysts at a borrowed flat near the presidential Elysee Palace.
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| Van Persie backs Moyes to revive United Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:11 PM PST  Robin van Persie is convinced under-fire Manchester United manager David Moyes will eventually prove a success at Old Trafford. Moyes has endured a miserable start to his reign as United have struggled to mount a strong defence of the Premier League title while also crashing out of the FA Cup in the third round. United are 11 points behind leaders Arsenal and face a major battle just to qualify for next season's Champions League. And the club's struggles to maintain the level of the Alex Ferguson years has been mirrored by a drop in the value of the club's shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
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| Algeria to double gas production in 10 years Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:58 PM PST  Algeria plans to double natural gas production and hike oil output by 50 percent within 10 years helped by major exploration success in 2013, Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi said Thursday. "Algeria plans very seriously to double its gas production," Yousfi told national radio, adding that shale gas would contribute to the ambitious production plan. He put Algeria's recoverable reserves at between 25 and 30 trillion cubic feet. The minister described drilling results in 2013 as "extremely satisfying," saying the OPEC country had discovered 550 million tonnes (4 billion barrels) of oil equivalent from 32 new oil and gas finds, three times the number discovered in 2012.
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| Freed Qaeda hostage pleads for husband's release Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:49 PM PST  A South African woman freed by Al-Qaeda last week after nine months in captivity appealed Thursday for her husband's release, after negotiations with the captors collapsed. Yolande Korkie, 43, launched the appeal on the eve of a deadline issued by Al-Qaeda to pay a $3 million (2.2 million euro) ransom or risk him being executed. "We are asking you Al-Qaeda, show mercy, show tolerance and forgiveness, please, release Pierre," an emotional Korkie told a news conference in Johannesburg. The couple was seized on May 27 last year in Yemen, where the 56-year-old husband was an English teacher.
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| Israel PM slams EU 'hypocrisy' on settlements Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:48 PM PST  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the European Union Thursday for calling in ambassadors over plans for some 1,800 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu's angry remarks come hot on the heels of a public spat between his defence minister and US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is energetically pushing Israel and the Palestinians toward a framework for a peace agreement. When did the EU call in the Palestinian ambassadors about incitement that calls for Israel's destruction?" Netanyahu asked foreign correspondents at his annual new year reception. Netanyahu's government announced plans for the new homes in the West Bank, including annexed Arab east Jerusalem, just days after the latest peace mission by US Secretary of State John Kerry who has slammed them as "illegitimate" and "unhelpful."
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| Israeli minister to lead delegation to UAE energy summit Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:47 PM PST  Israel's Minister of Energy Silvan Shalom travels on Friday to the United Arab Emirates to attend a conference on renewable energy, a spokesman said. Shalom, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, will head a delegation to the International Renewable Energy Agency's conference in Abu Dhabi, the spokesman said. The conference is due to open Saturday and the minister returns home on Monday, he added. Israel has quietly been seeking the alliance of Gulf monarchies, which like the Jewish state are concerned over Iran's rising regional power.
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| Former Florida Senator Bob Graham in Cuba for environmental talks Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:46 PM PST  By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - A former democratic senator and governor from Florida, Bob Graham, visited Cuba this week to discuss oil spill prevention and preparedness during a trip that has caused a stir among exiles and Cuba watchers due to his traditional support for tough sanctions against the Communist-ruled Caribbean island. Cuba and its partners drilled three exploratory wells off Cuba's northern coast in recent years that came up dry, but more such wells are expected in the future in search of billions of barrels of oil thought to be below its Gulf of Mexico waters. Graham's first ever visit to Cuba follows President Barack Obama's recent call, while visiting Miami, for "modernizing" relations with Cuba, as well as his famous handshake with Cuban President Raul Castro while attending Nelson Mandela's memorial service in South Africa last month.
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| S.Africa's AMCU to strike at Lonmin, Implats Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:35 PM PST  Upstart worker organisation AMCU said Thursday it would serve notice to strike for higher wages at world top producers Impala Platinum and Lonmin. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, majority worker group at both mines, will give the 48-hour notice on Monday, its president Joseph Mathunjwa confirmed to AFP in a text message. AMCU claims the current entry-level wage is around 5,000 rand, though gold and platinum producers give higher figures. Following official processes for strikes marks a change from AMCU's past practice of wildcat stoppages since it gained prominence on the platinum belt two years ago.
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| Kerry urges opposition to attend Syrian conference Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:35 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry urged the Syrian opposition on Thursday to attend next week's peace conference in Switzerland and said any individual chosen to lead a political transition in the war-torn country must be acceptable to both the government and opposing forces.
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| Security forces dismiss reports Russia's top militant is dead Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:19 PM PST Chechnya's Moscow-backed leader said on Thursday he believed police had killed Russia's most wanted man Doku Umarov, who has called for attacks on the Winter Olympics, but security sources suggested Umarov is still alive. The death of Islamist leader Umarov would be a breakthrough for President Vladimir Putin in the fight against militants before next month's Games, on which the Kremlin chief has staked much of his political and personal reputation. But Chechen regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a maverick appointee of Putin, said no body of Umarov had been found. "We have long been 99 percent certain that D. Umarov was liquidated during one of the (police anti-militant) operations. |
| Speed up deployment of peacekeepers to Mali: U.N. official Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:09 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. peacekeeping chief in Mali appealed on Thursday for a quicker deployment of troops to boost the force, which is operating at half its mandated strength of 11,200, so it can better tackle extremist groups in the north of the country. Bert Koenders said 90 percent of the needed peacekeepers had been committed by countries including China, El Salvador and the Netherlands, but the deployment had to be sped up ahead of a planned withdrawal of some French troops by the start of summer. ...
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