| Turkey dismisses 'Soviet propaganda', says trying to secure Syria border Posted: 03 Dec 2015 01:20 AM PST  Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu dismissed Russian allegations that Turkey was buying oil from Islamic State as "Soviet-style propaganda" on Thursday and said the NATO member was doing all it could to secure its border with Syria. Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday it had proof that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq. "In the Cold War period there was a Soviet propaganda machine.
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| Obama says additional U.S. forces will help "squeeze" Islamic State Posted: 03 Dec 2015 12:54 PM PST  By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said his decision to send more U.S. special forces to combat Islamic State in Iraq is not an indication that the United States is headed for another invasion like the one in 2003 that locked it in a long, violent conflict. Obama has said his strategy to fight the militant group in Iraq and Syria does not include U.S. ground combat troops, but this week, the Pentagon announced it would send a new force of special operations troops.
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| With Schengen under threat, Greece accepts EU help Posted: 03 Dec 2015 01:37 PM PST  By Alastair Macdonald and Alexandros Avramidis BRUSSELS/IDOMENI (Reuters) - Greece asked for European help on Thursday to secure its borders and care for crowds of migrants, defusing threats from EU allies to bar it from the passport-free Schengen zone if it failed to get a grip. Hours before EU interior ministers are to meet on Friday to consider what to do about Greece's inability to stem the flow of refugees and others streaming toward Europe's rich north, the Athens government finally heeded calls from Brussels and agreed to accept European aid and foreign border guards. Its acceptance of three offers -- EU staff to help on its northern frontier, foreign border guards on its Aegean islands and tents and supplies to house stranded migrants -- was quickly welcomed by the EU executive and Migration Commissioner Dmitris Avramopoulos, a Greek himself, called for EU states to help.
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| Pain but no gain: Indonesia's corruption crackdown Posted: 03 Dec 2015 01:31 PM PST  By Randy Fabi and Kanupriya Kapoor JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian bureaucrats are holding off spending billions of dollars on everything from schools and clinics to garbage trucks and parking meters, fearful that any major expenditure could come under the scanner of fervent anti-corruption fighters. The paralysis is so bad that President Joko Widodo, desperate to pull Southeast Asia's largest economy out of a slump, is considering a decree that would shield civil servants from graft busters until big-ticket projects are completed. "There are concerns of criminalisation," Boediarso Teguh Widodo, the finance ministry's director general of regional budgetary spending, told Reuters.
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| Forget 'smart' new cities; India needs old ones to be less dumb Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:08 PM PST  By Douglas Busvine and Abhiram Nandakumar NEW DELHI/BENGALURU, India (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi has grand designs to build 100 futuristic 'smart' cities in India, but as this week's devastating flooding in Chennai shows, fixing today's accident-prone metropolises appears to be the more pressing task. Locals are in no doubt as to why a mix of flood waters and sewage is swilling neck-deep around parts of the southern city of 6 million people after weeks of monsoon rains culminated in a 345 mm (14-inch) cloudburst in 24 hours.
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| Activists: Mexico releases alleged victims of police torture Posted: 03 Dec 2015 04:36 PM PST MEXICO CITY (AP) — Several people who were wrongly detained and allegedly tortured by Mexican police have been released after spending years in custody, human rights groups said Thursday. |
| Renault returns to F1 as racing team Posted: 03 Dec 2015 04:33 PM PST LONDON (AP) — French carmaker Renault will return to Formula One as a racing team in its own name next season after agreeing to take over Lotus. |
| Pressure mounting on Dutch to join Syria air strikes Posted: 03 Dec 2015 04:25 PM PST  Pressure is mounting on the Netherlands to join US-led air strikes against Islamic State extremists in Syria, with several lawmakers late Thursday joining calls for a bombing campaign. The Dutch cabinet however said it will reach a decision to take part in the US-led operation only once "all military and political aspects" of the Syrian conflict had been discussed. "As far as we are concerned it's high time action is taken against IS in Syria," Raymond de Roon of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) told a late-evening meeting of Parliament's Commission for Foreign Affairs.
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| Bad weather delays US space station shipment, 1st in months Posted: 03 Dec 2015 04:20 PM PST  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Wet and cloudy weather prevented NASA from resuming commercial space station deliveries Thursday.
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| Aussie crocs in vicious duel to the death Posted: 03 Dec 2015 04:01 PM PST  Two saltwater crocodiles have been snapped in a vicious duel to the death in Australia, with rangers warning of the threat the giant reptiles pose. Sandra Bell was at Lakefield National Park on the Cape York Peninsula in the country's tropical north when she captured the moment a smaller croc was eaten by a much bigger one. "This is nature at its toothiest and clawiest!," tweeted Queensland National Parks, adding that the attack took place at a popular waterhole close to a sign on a nearby riverbank warning of crocodiles.
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| NASA: Leak in French instrument may stall next Mars mission Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:59 PM PST  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft that's supposed to fly to Mars and land on the red planet next year has a leak that could delay the mission.
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| Records: Suspect in US shooting had troubled upbringing Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:59 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the suspects in the deadly shooting rampage at a California social service center grew up in a family riven by violence, with his mother accusing his father of being an abusive alcoholic, according to divorce records.
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| No transit for US-bound Cuban migrants, says Guatemala Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:46 PM PST  San José (AFP) - Thousands of Cubans backed up in Costa Rica and Panama in a frustrated bid to reach the United States will not be permitted to transit through Guatemala, Costa Rica's foreign minister said Thursday. Nearly 4,000 Cuban migrants are being sheltered in Costa Rica, near the border with Nicaragua, which has denied access to them since mid-November. Costa Rica, which recently dismantled a people-smuggling ring that facilitated the Cubans' journey, has been trying to find a regional solution to get them to the US border that bypasses northern neighbor Nicaragua.
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| U.S. authorities look for militant links to shooters in California mass slaying Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:41 PM PST  By Tim Reid and Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (Reuters) - The couple suspected of killing 14 people at a holiday party in California amassed thousands of rounds of ammunition and a dozen pipe bombs, authorities said on Thursday as they sought clues to the pair's motives and whether they had links to Islamist militants. Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, his wife and mother of his 6-month-old daughter, were killed in a shootout with police five hours after Wednesday's massacre at the Inland Regional Center social services agency in the city of San Bernardino. Twenty-one people were wounded in the shooting, which ranks as the deadliest instance of U.S. gun violence in three years.
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| Ecuador lawmakers vote to end presidential term limit Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:39 PM PST  QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The National Assembly passed a constitutional amendment Thursday to lift Ecuador's presidential term limits as violent street protests escalated against what many demonstrators deemed a power grab by President Rafael Correa.
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| California shooters had massive arsenal: police Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:36 PM PST  A young couple who killed 14 people in a shooting in California had amassed a huge arsenal and carefully planned their attack, authorities said Thursday, refusing to rule out terrorism. There were competing theories as to what drove US-born Syed Farook, 28, described as a committed Muslim, and his 27-year-old wife Tashfeen Malik to spray gunfire at a holiday party in San Bernardino, about an hour's drive east of Los Angeles. The attack, which left 21 people wounded, was the deadliest in the United States since the 2012 massacre at a school in Connecticut that left 26 people dead, including 20 children.
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| 'No' side wins Danish vote on EU justice rules Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:35 PM PST  Eurosceptic EU member Denmark voted in a referendum Thursday to reject a government proposal to adopt the bloc's justice rules, amid concerns over handing more power to Brussels. The 'No' side received 53.1 percent of votes, while the 'Yes' camp garnered 46.9 percent, final results showed. "It is a clear no... I have full respect for the Danes' decision," Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said at a press conference.
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| 2018 World Cup final to start at 11 am EDT Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:30 PM PST  ZURICH (AP) — The kickoff time for the 2018 World Cup final will be a lot earlier in some major markets than for recent championship games.
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| Nori Aoki and Mariners finalize $5.5 million deal Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:27 PM PST  SEATTLE (AP) — The Mariners kept up their offseason makeover on Thursday by finalizing a $5.5 million, one-year contract with free agent outfielder Nori Aoki, a deal that includes a $6 million conditional option for the 2017 season.
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| UN secretary-general appoints new chief of staff Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:20 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced a series of high-level appointments, including a new chief of staff and a top adviser to galvanize implementation of the new U.N. development goals for 2030. |
| Dominican court strikes down law allowing certain abortions Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:16 PM PST SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A Dominican court has blocked a new law that would have decriminalized abortions for the first time if a pregnant woman's life was at risk, backing a complaint filed by several religious groups. |
| US indicts 16 more in probe of world soccer corruption Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:13 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — As members of FIFA's executive committee prepared to vote on reforming soccer's scandal-plagued governing body, Swiss government agents swept into a luxury hotel before dawn for a second wave of arrests on corruption charges in the wake of another sweeping indictment by U.S. prosecutors.
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| Trump says soon off to Israel to meet Netanyahu Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:12 PM PST  The billionaire Republican frontrunner for president, Donald Trump, attempted to woo Jewish voters Thursday by saying he planned soon to meet Israel's prime minister in the holy land. "I'm leaving for Israel in a very short period of time," he told the Jewish Republican Coalition in Washington DC during a campaign stop in which he sought to burnish his Jewish ties.
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| Marseille climbs up to 8th place after 1-0 at Rennes Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:10 PM PST PARIS (AP) — Winger Remy Cabella scored the winner as an improving side Marseille won 1-0 at Rennes on Thursday to climb to eighth place in the French league. |
| Onuoha lifts QPR as Hasselbaink waits in wings Posted: 03 Dec 2015 03:05 PM PST  Nedum Onuoha gave QPR a dramatic 1-0 win over Reading on Thursday as former Chelsea star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink prepares to take over as the Championship club's new manager. Hasselbaink, who has led minnows Burton to the top of League One, is expected to be named as QPR boss on Friday according to reports and he will take charge of a team on the up thanks to Onuoha's late header at the Madejski Stadium.
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| Polish president ignores top court ruling in row over judges Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:56 PM PST  Poland's president on Thursday ignored an order by the Constitutional Court to swear in three judges picked by the previous parliament, deepening a feud with his political rivals and escalating a constitutional crisis. In a special televised address on Poland's TVP public broadcaster, conservative President Andrzej Duda said he stood by his decision to instead appoint four other judges to the Constitutional Court, who were already hastily sworn in during a late-night ceremony on Wednesday. Duda's defiance marks the latest salvo in a row between the Law and Justice (PiS) party, which won an October election and backs the president, and the defeated liberal Civic Platform (PO), over which judges should serve in the country's top judicial body.
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| Australia to strip citizenship from terror suspects Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:49 PM PST CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia has enacted laws that enable dual national suspected terrorists to be stripped of their Australian citizenship. |
| CONMEBOL crisis deepens after arrest of 3rd president Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:44 PM PST  SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The arrests of the last three presidents of CONMEBOL has plunged South America's soccer body into the worst crisis in its nearly 100-year history.
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| IS child soldiers kill captives in gruesome video Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:43 PM PST  The Islamic State group on Thursday posted online a gruesome video showing six of its child soldiers killing Syrian security forces held captive by the jihadists. Titled "To the Sons of Jews," the slickly-produced video shows dozens of boys, who appeared to be about 10 years old, studying religious texts and learning hand-to-hand combat. Six of the boys are chosen by their instructor to "send a message" to IS's opponents by executing security forces held by the group.
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| Austria's Puchner fastest in 2nd training run at Lake Louise Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:43 PM PST  LAKE LOUISE, Alberta (AP) — Austria's Mirjam Puchner of Austria topped the second World Cup downhill training run Thursday at Lake Louise, edging American star Lindsey Vonn by 0.12 seconds.
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| Russian convicted in Taliban attack gets life in US prison Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:38 PM PST  RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) — A former Russian military tank commander who was convicted of leading an attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan was sentenced Thursday to life in prison.
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| American Christel Lee wins Finland's Sibelius competition Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:30 PM PST HELSINKI (AP) — American Christel Lee beat 38 competitors to win the international Sibelius violin competition with a cash prize of 25,000 euros ($26,500). |
| US military to open frontline combat roles to women Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:28 PM PST  The US military will open up all positions -- including frontline combat roles -- to women, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced Thursday in a sweeping move officially ending centuries of men-only tradition. "As long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will ... be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars, and lead infantry soldiers into combat," Carter said. Given the tough physical standards, Carter stressed that equal opportunity would probably not translate to equal participation of men and women in all roles.
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| Habitat loss seen as rising threat to world's migratory birds Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:28 PM PST  By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Habitat destruction along routes taken by the world's migratory birds poses an increasing peril to these long-distance fliers, with a vast majority crossing terrain that nations are inadequately protecting, according to scientists. The researchers said on Thursday they tracked the migratory routes, stopover locations, breeding grounds and wintering locations of 1,451 migratory species and assessed about 450,000 protected areas like national parks and other reserves. "This is important because migratory species cover vast distances and rely on an intact series of habitats in which they can rest and feed on their long journeys," said conservation scientist Richard Fuller of the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) and the University of Queensland.
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| Radiation from Japan nuclear disaster spreads off U.S. shores Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:25 PM PST  Radiation from Japan's 2011 nuclear disaster has spread off North American shores and contamination is increasing at previously identified sites, although levels are still too low to threaten human or ocean life, scientists said on Thursday. Tests of hundreds of samples of Pacific Ocean water confirmed that Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant continues to leak radioactive isotopes more than four years after its meltdown, said Ken Buesseler, marine radiochemist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Another isotope, cesium-137, a radioactive legacy of nuclear weapons tests conducted from the 1950s through the 1970s, was found at low levels in nearly every seawater sample tested by Woods Hole, a nonprofit research institution.
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| Deploying ground combat forces 'hostile act': Iraq PM Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:21 PM PST  Iraq considers any country sending ground combat forces into its territory a "hostile act" and has not requested such a deployment, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Thursday. The US has announced that it will deploy around 100 special forces personnel to Iraq to fight the Islamic State jihadist group here and in neighbouring Syria, while two American senators have proposed tripling the number of US troops in the country. Iraq "will consider any country sending ground combat forces a hostile act and will deal with it on this basis," Abadi said in a statement.
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| Air strikes alone won't defeat Islamic State, Kerry warns Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:16 PM PST  By Arshad Mohammed BELGRADE (Reuters) - Syrian and other Arab ground forces must be found to take on Islamic State, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday, saying the militant group would not be defeated by air strikes alone. Kerry was speaking hours after Britain began bombing Islamic State targets in Syria, joining forces with France and the United States, nearly three weeks after the jihadist group killed 130 people in attacks across Paris. British Prime Minister David Cameron says there are as many as 70,000 moderate opposition fighters in Syria ready to take on Islamic State with the help of foreign air strikes, an assertion opponents of the bombing campaign have questioned.
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| Fiat Chrysler recalling 121,603 Dodge Darts for brake issue Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:13 PM PST DETROIT (AP) — Fiat Chrysler is recalling more than 121,600 Dodge Dart small cars worldwide because of a defect that could affect their brake systems. |
| 'Clear no' in Danish vote on EU justice rules: PM Posted: 03 Dec 2015 02:09 PM PST Danes rejected in a referendum Thursday a government proposal to deepen the EU member's participation in the bloc's justice cooperation, Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said. The 'No' camp was led by the anti-EU, anti-immigration Danish People's Party (DPP) which believes dropping Denmark's justice opt-out would have given too much power to Brussels and risked leading to more immigration. "It is my clear impression that it's not so much what we have voted about that the Danes have turned their backs on, but perhaps what we haven't voted on," Rasmussen said. |
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