| Ukraine rebel leaders sworn in, Kiev says peace plan violated Posted: 04 Nov 2014 09:49 AM PST  By Thomas Grove DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) - Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine staged swearing in ceremonies for their leaders on Tuesday after votes dismissed as a farce by Kiev, which says they violated terms of a peace plan to end a war that has killed more than 4,000 people. Warning of the threat of new offensive by Moscow-backed rebels, Ukraine's leader said newly-formed army units would be sent to defend a string of eastern cities. NATO's highest ranking officer, a U.S. ...
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| New Zealand vows to stop citizens joining Islamic State Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:46 PM PST  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand will beef up steps to monitor and prevent its citizens from joining Islamic State (IS) fighting in Iraq and Syria, but has ruled out any military involvement in the conflict, Prime Minister John Key said on Wednesday. Key said the country had to acknowledge that the risks it faced from the rise of IS have increased, with New Zealand citizens involved directly in the fighting, raising funds, or promoting the militants. ...
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| Britain, France, U.S. ask U.N. to blacklist Libya's Ansar al-Sharia Posted: 04 Nov 2014 05:19 PM PST  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Britain, the United States and France have proposed that Islamist extremist group Ansar al-Sharia in Libya be blacklisted under the United Nations al Qaeda sanctions regime, diplomats said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. If all 15 members of the U.N. Security Council's al Qaeda sanctions committee agree, the group will be added to the list on Nov. 19 and subjected to an arms embargo and a global travel ban and asset freeze, the diplomats said. Australian U.N. ...
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| Leader of Syria Qaeda wing threatens strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon Posted: 04 Nov 2014 02:27 PM PST By Mariam Karouny BEIRUT (Reuters) - The leader of Syria's al Qaeda rebel wing threatened attacks against the Shi'ite Muslim militant movement Hezbollah in Lebanon in coming days that he said would make it regret fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Lebanon hosts around a million refugees from Syria's civil war and has seen violence spill over the border, with bombings in Beirut, fighting in the northern city of Tripoli, and rocket attacks on Bekaa Valley towns close to the frontier. ... |
| U.S. says to propose U.N. sanctions regime for South Sudan Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:14 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.S. delegation to the United Nations informed members of the Security Council on Tuesday that it will circulate a draft resolution establishing an international sanctions regime for conflict-torn South Sudan, a U.S. official said on Tuesday. "The resolution will establish a mechanism for targeting individuals undermining South Sudan's political stability and abusing human rights," the official said on condition of anonymity. ...
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| Iraq Shi'ite Ashoura ritual escapes major attacks Posted: 04 Nov 2014 10:20 AM PST  By Haider Kadhim KERBALA Iraq (Reuters) - A gathering of millions of Shi'ite Muslims at shrines and mosques across Iraq for the Ashoura religious commemoration passed without any major attacks on Tuesday, under tight security imposed for fear of Islamic State bombers. Crowds of hundreds of thousands of people in the holy city of Kerbala had largely dispersed in safety after nightfall, following a day of worship and prayer to mark the 7th century battle that divided the Muslim world into Sunnis and Shi'ites. ...
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| Small islands may amplify tsunamis Posted: 04 Nov 2014 05:13 PM PST  The findings are of concern, for many coastal communities have settled in areas traditionally believed to be shielded from waves by offshore islands. In 200 computer simulations, not one concluded that the presence of an island defended the coastal area behind it, they found. Instead, the tsunami's energy was amplified "by as much as 70 percent," co-author Frederic Dias of France's Center for Mathematical Studies and their Applications (CMLA) told AFP. Dias said coastal communities in countries like Greece and Indonesia were particularly at risk from the phenomenon uncovered by the study.
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| Wenger slams sloppy Arsenal after Euro meltdown Posted: 04 Nov 2014 05:12 PM PST  Arsene Wenger launched a scathing attack on his Arsenal flops after they blew a three-goal lead in a 3-3 draw against Anderlecht that left them still waiting to book their place in the Champions League last 16. Wenger's side were on course to qualify for the knockout stages of Europe's elite club competition for the 15th successive season after Mikel Arteta's penalty and fine strikes from Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain put them in complete control by the 58th minute.
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| UN considers adding Libya jihadists to terror list Posted: 04 Nov 2014 05:11 PM PST  France, Britain and the United States on Tuesday asked a Security Council committee to add Libyan Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia to a UN terror list for its ties to Al-Qaeda. Ansar al-Sharia is already on the US terror list for its role in the September 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans. A copy of the French-led request to the Al-Qaeda sanctions committee was obtained by AFP. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in September told a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that the group should face sanctions as part of efforts to prevent Libya from sliding further into violence.
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| UK loath to pressure China over Hong Kong because of trade: former governor Posted: 04 Nov 2014 05:11 PM PST  By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is not putting enough pressure on China to stick to its side of an agreement on the transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty because it is worried about damaging trade links, former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten said on Tuesday. China took back control of the former British colony in 1997 through a "one country, two systems" formula which allows wide-ranging autonomy and specifies universal suffrage as an eventual goal. ...
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| Republicans strike early in midterm Senate battle Posted: 04 Nov 2014 05:09 PM PST  Republicans took first blood Tuesday in the midterm battle to seize the US Senate, winning a key Democratic seat and heaping pressure on President Barack Obama's party to hold its ground. With most polls closed in the eastern third of the nation, confident Republicans enjoyed a huge sigh of relief when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the man who could lead the chamber should the GOP win the majority, brushed aside Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, his toughest challenger in more than 30 years. Republicans also romped to victory in West Virginia -- where retiring Democrat John Rockefeller had held the seat for decades -- marking the first of six pickups that the party would need in order to take control of the 100-member Senate. The first results confirmed that Obama's adversaries were on course to win a majority in both chambers of Congress for the first time since 2006 and blight the president's last two years in office.
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| Top Asian News at 1:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 04 Nov 2014 05:03 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday the U.S. and China must work together to stave off a global catastrophe from climate change. He appealed for greater cooperation between the two world powers despite strains between them over cyber theft and maritime security. Kerry heads to Beijing this week, to set the stage for a visit by President Barack Obama for a regional summit and talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. That will be first leg of a three-nation swing through Asia, intended to underscore the president's commitment to the region despite the necessity of American attention on security crises in the Mideast and eastern Europe. |
| Wanderers captain in Australia squad vs Japan Posted: 04 Nov 2014 05:02 PM PST  SYDNEY (AP) — Western Sydney Wanderers captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley has been included in Australia's 23-man squad for an international friendly against Japan on Nov. 18, adding to his workload before the Club World Cup.
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| Dominican Republic quits OAS's human rights court Posted: 04 Nov 2014 05:02 PM PST SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican Republic withdrew as a member of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Tuesday, leading rights activists to raise concerns about the welfare of migrants in the Caribbean country. |
| Cowboys' Mincey faces old foe in Jags in London Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:58 PM PST  IRVING, Texas (AP) — Jeremy Mincey played for Jacksonville in London last year. Now he is about to face the Jaguars with the Dallas Cowboys at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
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| UN poised to slap sanctions on former Yemen strongman Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:54 PM PST  The UN Security Council is poised to impose sanctions on Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and two Huthi rebel leaders for obstructing peace in the country, diplomats said Tuesday. A US-drafted proposal to the council would slap a visa ban and an assets freeze on Saleh and two of his allies, Shiite Huthi rebel leaders Abdulmalik al-Huthi and Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim. Saleh served as Yemen's first president after unification in 1990 before being forced to step down in February 2012 under a regional peace plan. The fighting has raised fears that Yemen -- which neighbors oil kingpin Saudi Arabia and lies on the key shipping route from the Suez Canal to the Gulf -- may collapse into a failed state.
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| Melbourne Cup horse deaths spark calls for change Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:50 PM PST  The death of Melbourne Cup favourite Admire Rakti reignited calls Wednesday for a ban on whips as initial autopsy results showed the champion Japanese galloper suffered acute heart failure. Admire Rakti, a seven-year-old, collapsed and died in his stall after fading badly on the final stretch of Australia's premier race on Monday, won by Germany's Protectionist. It was the second consecutive year in which there was tragedy in the Melbourne Cup. The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, which says 125 horses died on Australian tracks between August 1 last year and July 31 this year, said horses were being pushed too hard and called for a ban on the use of whips by jockeys.
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| New Zealand won't send troops to fight IS in Iraq Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:41 PM PST WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand said Wednesday it would not send combat troops to Iraq to directly fight the Islamic State group but it could send military personnel to help train Iraqi forces behind the front lines. |
| Amnesty berates Israel for civilian deaths in Gaza war Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:11 PM PST  The Israeli military displayed "shocking disregard" for civilian lives in Gaza during its devastating 50-day war on militants in the Palestinian territory, Amnesty International said in a report Wednesday. Israel rejected the London-based rights group's findings, saying it produced "no evidence" to back up its claims in what was effectively "a propaganda tool for Hamas". Amnesty documented eight instances in which Israeli forces attacked homes in Gaza "without warning", killing "at least 104 civilians including 62 children". "The report reveals a pattern of frequent Israeli attacks using large aerial bombs to level civilian homes, sometimes killing entire families," Amnesty said.
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| Mexico mayor, wife arrested over 43 missing students Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:11 PM PST  Mexican police on Tuesday detained a fugitive ex-mayor and his wife accused of ordering a deadly police attack that left 43 students missing, raising hopes of a break in a case bedeviling the nation. Jose Luis Abarca, the former mayor of the southern city of Iguala, and Maria de los Angeles Pineda were captured by federal officers in the dead of night in Mexico City's populous working-class district of Iztapalapa, authorities said. Officials hope the arrest will yield new clues about the whereabouts of the students in a disappearance that has drawn international condemnation, sparked national protests and shaken President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration. "I hope that this arrest will contribute in a decisive manner ... to the investigation undertaken by the attorney general's office," said Pena Nieto, who last week met parents angry at the pace of the probe.
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| Jury picked in Detroit trial of Chicago activist Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:07 PM PST  DETROIT (AP) — Dozens of people traveled 300 miles (482 kilometers) from Chicago on Tuesday to support an Arab activist who is on trial for failing to tell U.S. immigration officials that she was convicted of two bombings in Israel decades ago.
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| Mexican boy to have tumor surgeries in New Mexico Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:03 PM PST  ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) — An 11-year-old Mexican boy with a massive tumor, who drew international attention after U.S. Homeland Security Investigations helped him get treatment in New Mexico, is scheduled to have a series of surgeries in Albuquerque to remove the large growth on his shoulder.
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| Agent: Griner cut but OK in knife attack in China Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:58 PM PST  WNBA star Brittney Griner was cut on the elbow in a knife attack in China but didn't need to go to the hospital, her agent told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
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| Burkina army wants to hand over power within two weeks Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:48 PM PST  Burkina Faso's army wants to hand over power within two weeks, labour unions said on Tuesday, as international pressure mounted for a speedy transition after the fall of president Blaise Compaore. Isaac Zida, the interim leader appointed by the military, made the pledge a day after African nations gave the country a fortnight to return to civilian rule or face the threat of sanctions. The presidents of Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal were also due to arrive in Burkina Faso on Wednesday to press the issue, as Canada suspended its aid to the impoverished West African country and other nations considered similar moves.
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| Mexican mayor, wife detained in case of 43 missing Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:45 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's most-wanted couple, accused of running their town as a drug fiefdom and ordering an attack that killed six and left 43 college students missing, were caught Tuesday in a rough-and-tumble neighborhood of Mexico City where they were hiding.
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| Low chance of cyclone over northeastern Caribbean sea: NHC Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:44 PM PST (Reuters) - A large area of disturbed weather located over the northeastern Caribbean Sea and extending northward across Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, has a low, or 20 percent chance, of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Tuesday. "This system could briefly acquire subtropical characteristics tomorrow or on Thursday while the low moves west-northwestward to northwestward," the Miami-based NHC said. ... |
| Gunmen kill 5 in attack in eastern Saudi Arabia Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:40 PM PST RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi authorities arrested 15 people on Tuesday in connection with a shooting in the east of the kingdom the previous night that left five people dead and was apparently aimed at the country's Shiite minority. |
| Anderlecht draws 3-3 at Arsenal after trailing 3-0 Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:33 PM PST  LONDON (AP) — Arsenal threw away a 3-0 lead and an early place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday after Anderlecht launched a stunning comeback to draw 3-3 with a last-minute equalizer.
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| Juventus beats Olympiakos 3-2 in Champions League Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:26 PM PST  TURIN, Italy (AP) — Juventus scored twice in a minute to rescue a 3-2 victory at home to Olympiakos and keep its hopes of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages alive.
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| Real Madrid, Dortmund advance in Champions League Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:20 PM PST  GENEVA (AP) — Real Madrid beat an under-strength Liverpool 1-0 to advance in the Champions League on Tuesday although Cristiano Ronaldo failed to equal the competition scoring record.
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| Mexico rights commission investigates killings Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:17 PM PST  MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — Mexican human rights investigators on Tuesday interviewed employees at an import car lot where the parents of three young Americans shot to death in Mexico say they found their vehicles.
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| US: Kidnapping suspect appears in LA court Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:14 PM PST LOS ANGELES (AP) — The FBI says a Seattle man charged with kidnapping his 9-year-old son and fleeing with him on his sailboat is now in the United States. |
| Canada fighter jets strike IS heavy vehicles in Iraq Posted: 04 Nov 2014 03:06 PM PST  Canada's first airstrikes against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq destroyed heavy engineering equipment used to build up group's defenses and divert water from the Euphrates River, an official said Tuesday. Lieutenant-General Jonathan Vance told a press conference two CF-18 Hornet fighter jets dropped several 500-pound laser-guided bombs on four targets near a dam near Fallujah. IS, he said, had been using the equipment to "divert water from the Euphrates river to create flooding and displace the population in Anbar province, and denying water to other populations downstream." Canada conducted its first airstrikes in the anti-IS fight following two days of reconnaissance after joining the coalition last Thursday.
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| NY court: No asylum for Chinese child-counter Posted: 04 Nov 2014 02:58 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court that rejected a Chinese woman's asylum request found that she helped her country's government limit childbirths for over two decades. |
| Atletico beats Malmo 2-0 in Champions League Posted: 04 Nov 2014 02:55 PM PST  MALMO, Sweden (AP) — Koke and Raul Garcia scored as Atletico Madrid beat Malmo 2-0 for a crucial away win Tuesday and surged to the top of Group A in the Champions League.
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| Adriano charged in connection with trafficking Posted: 04 Nov 2014 02:52 PM PST SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazil striker Adriano was charged by Rio de Janeiro prosecutors on Tuesday for his alleged connection with drug trafficking. |
| Teenager who ran Canadian prostitution ring jailed Posted: 04 Nov 2014 02:51 PM PST  A teenage girl was jailed for six-and-a-half years Tuesday for drugging and beating girls as young as 13 into prostitution in Canada's capital Ottawa after luring them through social media. Acting on their own without adult guidance, the girls used social media to lure victims to a suburban Ottawa home where they would be encouraged or forced to take drugs, and then delivered up to adult clients.
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| MP calls for UK to investigate FIFA corruption Posted: 04 Nov 2014 02:49 PM PST LONDON (AP) — A British member of parliament wants the country's serious fraud office to investigate allegations of FIFA corruption after a report that American former executive committee member Chuck Blazer bugged meetings in London during the 2012 Olympics. |
