| Paris attack suspect eludes police, complicating probe Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:32 PM PST  By Alastair Macdonald, Chine Labbé and John Irish BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) - French police had three opportunities to catch a Belgian suspect in the Paris attacks and each time let him go, a defense lawyer said on Tuesday, adding to the missed signals complicating efforts to track down those behind an onslaught in which 129 people were killed. Friday night's attacks, claimed by Islamic State militants, raised security concerns around the world. Bomb fears prompted Hanover, Germany, police to call off a soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands two hours before game time on Tuesday.
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| Germany game against Netherlands called off over bomb fears Posted: 17 Nov 2015 02:39 PM PST  A soccer game between Germany and Netherlands which German Chancellor Angel Merkel was due to attend in Hanover was called off two hours before its scheduled start on Tuesday over fears of a planned bombing. The match was due to have been held four days after the deadly attacks in Paris on Friday, when suicide bombers targeted the soccer stadium where Germany were playing France. "We had received specific indications that an attack with explosives was planned," Hanover Police President Volker Kluwe told NDR state broadcaster.
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| After China trip, U.S. lawmakers see hope for common ground on Tibet Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:20 PM PST  By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Tuesday an opportunity exists to find "common ground" with Chinese authorities on Tibet, which it has ruled since 1950. Pelosi, a long-time critic of China's human rights record, took a group of House Democrats to China this month, on a trip that included a rare visit to Tibet.
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| Exclusive: Paris attacker may have had accomplice on journey through Balkans Posted: 17 Nov 2015 12:57 PM PST  By Aleksandar Vasovic and Lefteris Karagiannopoulos BELGRADE/ATHENS (Reuters) - One of the Paris suicide attackers may have had an accomplice with him as he traveled through the Balkans to western Europe after entering Greece posing as a Syrian refugee, counter-intelligence and police sources say. The assailant may also have reached Paris faster and more easily than expected because asylum seekers were rushed across some national borders at the height of the migration crisis in Europe this year to avoid bottlenecks after Hungary closed its borders, ironically to keep out suspected militants. The man, who blew himself up near the Stade de France stadium in Friday's attacks that killed 129 people, has been identified from a Syrian passport found near his body as 25-year-old Ahmad al-Mohammad for the northwestern city of Idlib.
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| McConnell says discussing Syrian refugee legislation with White House Posted: 17 Nov 2015 11:41 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday a pause or moratorium was needed in President Barack Obama's plan to admit refugees from Syria and Iraq and he was discussing legislation about the refugees with the White House. Speaking to reporters at the Capitol, McConnell also said a strategy was needed that would give Syrian refugees the opportunity to stay in their own country. (Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Christian Plumb)
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| Canada scrambles to prepare for Syrian refugees amid unknowns Posted: 17 Nov 2015 02:24 PM PST  By Mike De Souza CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Operating with a sense of urgency but few details, Canadian officials said on Tuesday they did not know how many Syrian refugees would arrive or when as part of the prime minister's plan to bring 25,000 displaced Syrians to Canada by year end. "I guess we just have to be ready," said Jennifer Fowler, acting director of multicultural relations for City of Edmonton. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, sworn in this month after a landslide victory, has stood firm in his pledge to bring the refugees to Canada, using military transport and housing if necessary, despite criticism from political opponents that his Jan. 1 deadline is too tight to allow for adequate security screening in the wake of the Paris attacks.
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| Stories of those who died in the Paris attacks Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:59 PM PST  French President Francois Hollande said the attacks in Paris targeted "youth in all its diversity," killing at least 129. Here are some of their stories:
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| Cuban migrants paralyze Nicaragua-Costa Rica border Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:57 PM PST  A protest by desperate Cuban migrants stranded on their journey to the United States paralyzed a key border crossing between Costa Rica and Nicaragua Tuesday. A spokesman for Costa Rica's immigration authority confirmed the blockage. Many were stranded when Costa Rica busted a human trafficking ring that was charging $7,000 to $15,000 to smuggle them into the United States.
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| The Latest: China, Japan spar over disputed seas Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:55 PM PST  MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Leaders from 21 countries and self-governing territories are gathering in Manila for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The meeting's official agenda is focused on trade, business and economic issues but terrorism, South China Sea disputes and climate change are also set to be in focus. (All times are local.)
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| New Zealand All Blacks great Jonah Lomu dies aged 40 Posted: 17 Nov 2015 05:00 PM PST  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu, whose power and pace revolutionized rugby and whose humility and grace won millions of fans, died early Wednesday, New Zealand Rugby said. He was 40.
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| Motorist killed, 200,000 without power in Washington state storms Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:47 PM PST  One person was killed and more than 200,000 homes and businesses lost power on Tuesday as a storm packing wind gusts up to 49 miles per hour (79 kph) hit the Puget Sound area of Washington state, closing roads and triggering a small mudslide, local authorities said. There were 191,641 customers without power in the Puget Sound area, largely in Seattle and in Everett, 30 miles (48 km)to the north, according to Puget Sound Energy, which supplies gas and electricity in the region. Seattle City Light, which provides electricity in the city, said that some 5,424 customers were affected.
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| Costa Rica proposes humanitarian corridor for Cuban migrants Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:47 PM PST  SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rica on Tuesday proposed the creation of a "humanitarian corridor" for Cuban migrants transiting Central America en route to the United States as their numbers swell at its northern border with Nicaragua.
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| Australia adds O'Keefe, Marsh, Pattinson to 3rd test squad Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:45 PM PST  PERTH, Australia (AP) — Left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe has been added to Australia's squad for the inaugural day-night test against New Zealand in Adelaide, while Shaun Marsh and James Pattinson have also been recalled.
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| All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu dead at 40 Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:44 PM PST  Wellington (AFP) - Rugby legend Jonah Lomu, regarded as the game's first global superstar before kidney disease ended his career, died unexpectedly on Wednesday aged 40, the player's family and New Zealand Rugby said.
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| Top Asian News 12:44 a.m. GMT Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:44 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. lawmakers on a rare congressional visit to Tibet last week had "heated exchanges" with Chinese officials as they called for Beijing to renew dialogue with exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, one participant said Tuesday. Seven Democrats led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi made the first visit by U.S. lawmakers to Tibet since anti-government unrest in 2008. The region has also been largely off-limits to foreign media and diplomats since then. Rep. Jim McGovern said the visit was an important gesture by the Chinese government but "too often" they heard characterizations of Tibet and the Dalai Lama that reflected old prejudices. |
| Talks under way for UN rights chief to visit North Korea Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:44 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea and the United Nations both confirmed Tuesday that discussions are under way for what would be the first visit to the reclusive north Asian country by a U.N. human rights chief.
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| Fears of 'Patriot Act a la francaise' after Paris attacks Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:40 PM PST  With emotions running high in France after the attacks in Paris, President Francois Hollande has called for sweeping new security powers, raising fears of a French-style Patriot Act. The tough new security measures outlined by Hollande in an extraordinary meeting of parliament on Monday suggested some of France's "liberte" would be another casualty of Friday's horrific attacks, and could lead the country towards the sort of controversial snooping powers introduced by the US after the attacks of September 2001. Hollande called for the state of emergency declared immediately after the attacks -- a measure dating back to the Algerian war of the 1950s and early 1960s -- to be extended to three months and for changes to the French constitution to make it easier for an emergency to be declared.
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| Investigator: Russian track team still can make it to Rio Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:32 PM PST COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The author of the report that detailed anti-doping corruption in Russia believes the country that spent $51 billion on hosting the Sochi Olympics should be able to fix its system in time to get the track team to next year's Summer Games. |
| A partial list of victims of the Paris attacks Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:26 PM PST Here is a partial list of victims of Friday's attacks in Paris confirmed by The Associated Press and other media: |
| Former Nicaraguan minister missing, 3 dead in copter crash Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:23 PM PST  MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — A National Police official says former presidential minister Antonio Lacayo is missing and two Americans are dead in a helicopter crash in southern Nicaragua.
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| Cameroon start-up offers clean streets, cleaner fuel Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:19 PM PST  The company, launched in July 2014, sweeps the scraps off the streets and uses them to produce "organic charcoal" briquettes for cooking. Collecting the rubbish cleans up the streets even before it is turned into fuel," said the startup's manager Mueller Tenkeu Nandou. The briquettes aim at substituting for charcoal, for which demand is high and the environmental cost rising.
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| Samarco makes emergency repairs to dams at risk as rain sets in Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:18 PM PST  By Lisandra Paraguassu and Reese Ewing BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian miner Samarco said on Tuesday it is conducting real-time monitoring and emergency repairs on two of its tailings dams that suffered damage in the wake of the Nov. 5 collapse of another dam that killed 11 and left another 12 missing. Officials of Samarco, an iron ore venture owned by miners Vale and BHP Billiton, said at a news conference on Tuesday that the company's Santarem dam was most at risk of collapse and that its teams were racing to transport 500,000 cubic meters (653,975 cubic yards) of stone to shore it up. Samarco Operations Director Kleber Terra said he expected repairs to Santarem as well as at the Germano dam to take 45 to 90 days and that the rock was coming from Samarco's own mine.
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| US Republicans balk at Syria refugee program Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:10 PM PST  Top US Republicans demanded a halt Tuesday to a White House program to resettle Syrian refugees in America following the Paris attacks, a move that threatens to dislodge longstanding bipartisan humanitarian cooperation. House Speaker Paul Ryan called for a "pause" in the scheme, joining more than half of state governors who have urged President Barack Obama in recent days to suspend the program and fully review the vetting process to ensure that would-be attackers do not slip into the country as refugees. "Our nation has always been welcoming but we cannot let terrorists take advantage of our compassion," Ryan told reporters.
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| 4 killed in wildfires raging across Australia's southwest Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:06 PM PST SYDNEY (AP) — Wildfires raging across southwest Australia killed four people, officials said Wednesday, as a blistering heat wave swept through the country. |
| Golf Glance Posted: 17 Nov 2015 04:04 PM PST LPGA TOUR |
| Germany cancel Netherlands match after 'serious bomb threat' Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:58 PM PST  HANNOVER, Germany (AP) — The friendly soccer game between Germany and the Netherlands was canceled 90 minutes before kickoff on Tuesday due to the suspected threat of a bomb at the stadium.
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| Vatican interrogates journalist over leaks Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:56 PM PST  One of the two Italian investigative journalists facing criminal proceedings for revealing Vatican secrets said Tuesday he had been quizzed by Holy See prosecutors. Emiliano Fittipaldi said he had responded to a Vatican summons to face questioning "because I wanted to understand" the motivations for his prosecution over the contents of his recently published book "Avarice". The book is largely based on classified documents which were leaked in breach of an anti-whistle-blowing law enacted by the Vatican in 2013 with the blessing of Pope Francis.
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| White House threatens to veto U.S. Senate challenge of power plant rule Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:52 PM PST  The White House issued a veto threat on Tuesday for a resolution from the Republican-led U.S. Senate that would nullify new regulations to cut carbon emissions from power plants, the central piece of President Barack Obama's climate plan. The Senate sponsors of the motion have said the Environmental Protection Agency regulation, which is also being challenged in U.S. federal court by 26 states and more than a dozen industry groups, would hurt jobs in coal-dependent regions. Late on Tuesday, the Senate passed, 52-46, the measure challenging the administration's plan to cut emissions from existing power plants.
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| Europe on edge with at least one Paris attacker on the run Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:47 PM PST  Europe was on high alert Tuesday with at least one of the Paris attackers on the run, as France and Russia formed an unusual alliance against the Islamic State jihadists who have claimed the worst attacks in French history. In a sign of the nervousness after Friday's carnage in Paris, a football match between Germany and the Netherlands -- which German Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to attend -- was cancelled and the crowd evacuated after police acted on a "serious" bomb threat. The friendly match in the northern German city of Hanover had been intended as a "symbol of freedom" after the shooting spree and suicide bombings in Paris, which left at least 129 people dead.
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| Mexico beats Honduras 2-0 in World Cup qualifier Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:46 PM PST Second-half substitutes Jesus Corona and Juergen Damm scored to lead Mexico to a 2-0 win over Honduras on Tuesday in a World Cup qualifier at San Pedro Sula. |
| Martial leaves Wembley on crutches after France-England game Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:46 PM PST  LONDON (AP) — France striker Anthony Martial left Wembley Stadium on crutches after the friendly against England, in a potential blow to Manchester United ahead of the resumption of the English Premier League.
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| Surveillance video shows team of 3 attackers at Paris cafe Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:35 PM PST PARIS (AP) — Surveillance video obtained by The Associated Press indicates a team of three attackers carried out the shootings at a Paris sidewalk cafe, leading police to believe that a second assailant is on the loose. |
| 'Let's go' text found on Paris attacker's cell phone Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:31 PM PST A cell phone has been found near the site of one of Friday's Paris shootings with a map of the music venue that was attacked and a text message on it saying words to the effect of "let's go", a source with knowledge of the investigations said. Confirming reports on French web site Mediapart and U.S. television channel CNN, the source said the phone was found in a dustbin near the Bataclan concert hall where the bloodiest of the shootings took place. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the co-ordinated suicide bombings and shootings. |
| U.S. lawmakers say Paris attacks highlight encryption concerns Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:29 PM PST By Patricia Zengerle and Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers said on Tuesday it was likely that new, difficult to break "end-to-end" encryption technologies were used by individuals in Belgium, France and Syria involved in the Paris attacks last week. Hawkish lawmakers like Burr, and a number of intelligence officials, seized on the Paris attacks this weekend to argue that they illustrate the dangers of increasing encryption. "Now's the time for us to act," Burr said. |
| Paris attack may add firepower to U.S. defense stocks Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:29 PM PST  U.S. defense stocks, already on the upswing following the recent budget deal, are expected to rise further if the Paris attack gives a fillip to rising international sales. Lockheed Martin Corp , Raytheon Co , and Northrop Grumman Corp are among companies poised to benefit the most, analysts said. The stocks have risen 4-5.1 percent since Friday's carnage in Paris.
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| Italy held to 2-2 at home by Romania in friendly Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:26 PM PST  BOLOGNA, Italy (AP) — Italy was held to 2-2 at home by Romania in a friendly on Tuesday as it was again let down by defensive lapses.
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| Air Liquide offers to buy Airgas in deal worth about $10.3B Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:25 PM PST French industrial gas producer Air Liquide will buy U.S. counterpart Airgas in deal valued at about $10.3 billion. |
| Wembley unites to honour Paris victims Posted: 17 Nov 2015 03:20 PM PST  A moving rendition of the French national anthem reverberated around London's Wembley Stadium on Tuesday as fans of England and France paid tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks. In a crowd of 71,223 that included British Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William, many stood to sing 'La Marseillaise' four days on from the attacks, which left 129 people dead and over 350 injured. England won a subdued match 2-0 courtesy of goals from Dele Alli and captain Wayne Rooney, but the outcome of the contest was a mere anecdote on a night thick with poignancy.
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