| U.N. endorses Syria peace plan in rare show of unity among big powers Posted: 18 Dec 2015 05:10 PM PST  By Denis Dyomkin, John Irish and Sabine Siebold UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a resolution endorsing an international road map for a Syria peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed more than a quarter million lives. The resolution gives a U.N. blessing to a plan negotiated previously in Vienna that calls for a ceasefire, talks between the Syrian government and opposition, and a roughly two-year timeline to create a unity government and hold elections. Despite their agreement, the major powers are bitterly divided on who may represent the opposition as well as on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
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| Turkey's Erdogan meets Hamas leader Meshaal in Istanbul: sources Posted: 19 Dec 2015 11:03 AM PST  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met with Khaled Meshaal, leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, on Saturday in Istanbul, Turkish presidential sources said, a day after Israel and Turkey said they were close to patching up five-year political rift. A source from Erdogan's office said Meshaal "briefed Erdogan on the latest developments in the region", without giving further details. Islamist Hamas controls the Gaza strip.
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| Turkey says will continue to move troops from northern Iraqi province Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:32 PM PST  Turkey has acknowledged a "miscommunication" with Iraq over its deployment of troops to the Bashiqa military base in northern Iraq, Turkey's foreign ministry said on Saturday. The ministry said Turkey would continue to move some of its troops out of Nineveh province, where the camp is based. Turkey deployed hundreds of troops in the Bashiqa area this month, with the stated aim of protecting its military personnel training Iraqi militia to fight against Islamic State.
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| Yemen negotiators to form ceasefire committee as U.N. peace talks resume Posted: 19 Dec 2015 10:46 AM PST  Yemeni negotiators at U.N.-sponsored peace talks agreed on Saturday to form a committee to oversee a fragile ceasefire but the day ended without further progress being amid strong mutual distrust, sources close to the talks told Reuters. Fresh fighting in Yemen also threatened the peace talks, which end on Sunday, their sixth day. The eight-month conflict in impoverished Yemen has killed thousands of people and caused a major humanitarian crisis.
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| Keen to lift sanctions, Iran to ship enriched uranium to Russia within days Posted: 19 Dec 2015 04:22 AM PST  By Sam Wilkin DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will export most of its enriched uranium to Russia in the coming days as it rushes to implement a nuclear deal and secure relief from international sanctions, Tehran's nuclear chief was quoted as saying on Saturday. Drastically reducing its stock of enriched uranium, which can be used in nuclear weapons, was at the heart of the deal Iran reached in July with a group of six world powers. Under its terms, Iran must cut its stockpile to around 300 kg (660 lb) and mothball most of the centrifuges that produce the enriched fuel.
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| Spain goes to the polls in too-close-to-call election Posted: 19 Dec 2015 04:17 PM PST  By Julien Toyer MADRID (Reuters) - Spaniards vote on Sunday in a parliamentary election in which new parties are loosening the grip of the once-dominant conservatives and Socialists, raising the possibility of a new era of consensus politics - or a period of instability. With many people saying they are willing to shake up a political system they consider corrupt and unable to resolve Spain's economic woes, the outcome is the most uncertain in the 40 years since the end of the Franco dictatorship and the return of democracy. Opinion polls show the ruling conservative People's Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will win the vote but fall well short of an absolute majority.
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| Top Asian News 12:39 a.m. GMT Posted: 19 Dec 2015 04:39 PM PST BEIJING (AP) — The United States said its two B-52 bombers had no intention of flying over a Chinese-controlled man-made island in the South China Sea, after Beijing accused Washington of "a serious military provocation" in the strategic waters with overlapping claims. China's Defense Ministry accused the U.S. of deliberately raising tensions in the region, where China has been aggressively asserting its claims to virtually all islands, reefs and their surrounding seas. It reiterated that it would do whatever is necessary to protect China's sovereignty. Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright said that the Dec. 10 mission was not a "freedom of navigation" operation and that there was "no intention of flying within 12 nautical miles of any feature," indicating the mission may have strayed off course. |
| US says bombers didn't intend to fly over China-held islands Posted: 19 Dec 2015 04:38 PM PST  BEIJING (AP) — The United States said its two B-52 bombers had no intention of flying over a Chinese-controlled man-made island in the South China Sea, after Beijing accused Washington of "a serious military provocation" in the strategic waters with overlapping claims.
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| Hiddink returns to Chelsea as manager until end of season Posted: 19 Dec 2015 04:32 PM PST  LONDON (AP) — Guus Hiddink returned to Chelsea for a second spell as manager on Saturday, hired until the end of the season with the tough task of turning round the struggling Premier League champions following Jose Mourinho's firing.
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| Sri Lanka lead New Zealand by 140 runs at lunch on day 3 Posted: 19 Dec 2015 04:05 PM PST  HAMILTON, New Zealand (AP) — Dimuth Karunarate and Kusal Mendis put on 71 for the first wicket before Sri Lanka suffered a serious reversal against New Zealand ahead of lunch on the third day of the second cricket test on Sunday, going to the break at 85-3 and with an overall lead of 140.
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| Burundi rejects African Union peacekeeping force Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:54 PM PST  KIGALA, Rwanda (AP) — Burundi's government on Saturday rejected the African Union's plans to deploy a 5,000-strong peacekeeping force to stop escalating violence triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza's extended tenure in office, a government spokesman said.
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| Islamic State expands Afghan footprint with terror campaign Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:52 PM PST  JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — Rahman Wali's younger brother was one of 10 Afghan men forced by Islamic State militants to kneel over bombs buried in the soil in a lush green valley in eastern Nangarhar province. The extremists then detonated the bombs, turning the pastoral countryside into a scene of horror.
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| Rwandans vote in favour of extra terms for Kagame: provisional results Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:38 PM PST  Rwanda has overwhelmingly voted to change the constitution to allow President Paul Kagame to potentially rule until 2034, election officials said Saturday citing nationwide referendum results. It's clear that what the people want, they can achieve," said National Electoral Commission chief Kalisa Mbanda. Kagame, 58, could now be in power potentially for another 17 years.
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| Fierce fighting in northern Yemen kills at least 75 Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:34 PM PST  SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Fierce fighting and airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition pounded northern Yemen on Saturday, as the two main parties in the country's conflict continued to violate a ceasefire agreement and undermine already tenuous peace talks in Switzerland.
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| Rwandans vote overwhelmingly to lift Kagame's term limits Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:16 PM PST  KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwandans have voted overwhelmingly to lift constitutional restrictions to allow President Paul Kagame to run for more terms in office, said the head of Rwanda's electoral commission as he released provisional results Saturday.
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| Judge blocks Brazilian assets of Vale, BHP after dam burst Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:15 PM PST  By Stephen Eisenhammer and Bruno Marfinati RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A judge in Brazil's state of Minas Gerais has frozen the Brazilian assets of mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale SA after determining their joint venture Samarco was unable to pay for damage caused by the bursting of a dam at its mine last month. In a ruling issued late on Friday, the judge ruled that Vale and BHP could be held responsible for the disaster at the iron ore mine in the state of Minas Gerais, for which the government is demanding 20 billion reais ($5 billion). The dam burst, which turned into Brazil's worst ever environmental disaster, killed 16 people, left hundreds homeless and polluted a river 800 km (500-miles) long that flows across two states.
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| Arouca routs Maritimo 4-1 in Portuguese league Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:13 PM PST LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Arouca routed Maritimo 4-1 to consolidate its place in the middle of the Portuguese league standings on Saturday. |
| Niger says nine military officers arrested over 'coup plot' Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:07 PM PST  Niger's interior minister on Saturday said nine military officers had been arrested on suspicion of planning a coup and would face a military tribunal, after the opposition challenged the government to provide proof of the plot. The arrests, which took place earlier this week, came after a nearly one-month long surveillance operation, Hassoumi Massaoudou told a press conference in Niamey. The alleged coup was scheduled for December 18, when President Mahamadou Issoufou was set to return to the capital after attending independence day celebrations elsewhere in the country, the minister said.
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| Lucas Perez equals Deportivo record with goal in win Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:04 PM PST BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lucas Perez equaled a club record for Deportivo La Coruna by scoring for a seventh straight Spanish league game to help earn a 2-0 win over Eibar on Saturday. |
| No end in sight for Chile airport strike as holidays loom Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:01 PM PST  Ten of Chile's airports remained closed on Saturday as striking workers tied to the civil aviation authority and officials failed to reach an agreement, with the outlook for Sunday not looking much better. LAN, Chile's flagship airline and part of LATAM Airlines, has already been forced to cancel 200 domestic flights in the three days since the strikes began, the company said. The work stoppage, which was initially set to only last 48 hours, has already stranded thousands of passengers in the run-up to the Christmas holiday.
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| Election results ignite violent protests in Haiti Posted: 19 Dec 2015 02:44 PM PST PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Several government buildings were set ablaze in scattered sections of Haiti and one demonstrator was killed in violent protests ignited by the release of final legislative election results, officials said Saturday. |
| Rwandans approve extension of presidential term limits Posted: 19 Dec 2015 02:39 PM PST  By Clement Uwiringiyimana KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwandans voted overwhelmingly to support changes to the constitution that would allow President Paul Kagame to extend his term in office, possibly until 2034, provisional results showed on Saturday. Kagame, 58, would be able to run again in 2017 after his second term ends. "The electoral commission declares in public that 98.3 percent of voting Rwandans accepted the constitution as amended in 2015," National Electoral Commission chairman Kalisa Mbanda told a news conference after Friday's vote.
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| Ottawa cautiously welcomes plan for Libyan unity government Posted: 19 Dec 2015 02:39 PM PST  Canada on Saturday welcomed an agreement among some rival Libyan factions to form a national unity government aimed at stemming the chaos in that country, but cautioned that "serious challenges" remain. "Canada considers this agreement to be a promising first step in restoring unity and democracy in Libya, with important benefits for regional security," Stephane Dion, the Canadian foreign minister, said in a statement. UN officials have called the deal, signed at the Moroccan resort town of Skhirat, a "first step" toward ending the crisis in Libya and stemming advances by extremist groups like Islamic State.
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| Clinton, Sanders to debate amid data breach scandal Posted: 19 Dec 2015 02:12 PM PST  US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will take on rival Bernie Sanders at the third Democratic debate late Saturday, amid accusations that a data breach was carried out by his camp. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) temporarily suspended the Sanders campaign's access to a key voter database after at least one of its staffers took advantage of a computer glitch to peek at Clinton voter data. National security and foreign affairs are expected to dominate the evening -- both of which are weak points for Sanders, who is more comfortable talking about economic inequality and financial abuse, topics that are the cornerstones of his campaign.
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| Maccarone celebrates with beer as Empoli beats Bologna 3-2 Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:58 PM PST BOLOGNA, Italy (AP) — Empoli recorded a fourth successive Serie A win for the first time as it beat Bologna 3-2 on Saturday in its final match before the winter break. |
| Putin: Russia ready to use 'more military means' in Syria if need be - agencies Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:54 PM PST The Russian armed forces have not employed all their capability in Syria and may use "more military means" there if necessary, Russian news agencies quoted President Vladimir Putin as saying on Saturday. "We see how efficiently our pilots and intelligence agents coordinate their efforts with various kinds of forces - the army, navy and aviation, how they use the most modern weapons," Putin was quoted as saying in a speech. |
| PSG unbeaten halfway through French league after win at Caen Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:37 PM PST PARIS (AP) — French league leader Paris Saint-Germain remained undefeated at the halfway point after beating Caen 3-0 away on Saturday. |
| Puerto Rico power utility gets debt deadline extension Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:30 PM PST  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's electric utility says it has been given a brief reprieve to pursue an agreement with bond insurers on a debt restructuring deal that it reached last month with its bondholders and bank lenders.
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| Iraq gets first beauty queen since 1972 Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:24 PM PST  The jury chose Shaymaa Abdelrahman, a tall, green-eyed 20-year-old from Iraq's multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk. "I'm very happy to see Iraq going forward," the new beauty queen told AFP as she tried to fend off a scrum of admirers hoping to clinch a selfie. Wearing her sash and holding her bouquet, Shaymaa Abdelrahman was fast learning her new trade, saying all the right things without ever breaking her smile.
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| Turkey announces troop withdrawal from Iraq after Obama appeal: ministry Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:13 PM PST  Turkey on Saturday said it would "continue" to pull its troops out of northern Iraq after US President Barack Obama urged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to do so in order to de-escalate tensions with Baghdad over the deployment. "Taking into account the sensitivities on the Iraqi side... Turkey will continue the process it has already begun to withdraw its troops stationed in Mosul province," the foreign ministry said in a statement. The Iraqi government earlier this week demanded the "complete withdrawal" of Turkish troops from its territory after Turkey deployed soldiers and tanks to a military camp near the city of Mosul.
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| A-League: Wanderers stay unbeaten in 8 matches with 2-2 draw Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:12 PM PST SYDNEY (AP) — Western Sydney Wanderers extended their A-League unbeaten streak to eight matches with a 2-2 draw against the Perth Glory on Saturday. |
| Olympiakos starts season with Greek-record 14th straight win Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:05 PM PST ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Olympiakos earned a Greek league-record 14th straight win to start the season when it beat Kalloni 2-0 on Saturday. |
| No dog-eat-dog politics: Siberian city backs cat for mayor Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:53 PM PST  BARNAUL, Russia (AP) — Tired of the dog-eat-dog politics in their Russian city, the residents of Barnaul say they want a cat to be their next mayor.
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| UK lord accused of child sex abuse dies before trial Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:52 PM PST  An 87-year-old British parliamentarian deemed unfit to stand trial on a string of child sex abuse offences died peacefully at his home on Saturday, his family said. Greville Janner, a member of the upper House of Lords, had been suffering from such severe dementia that a judge ruled earlier this month that he was unfit to enter a plea. "This is devastating news for my clients," said lawyer Liz Dux, who represents six of Janner's alleged victims.
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| Danish MEP quits ruling party over asylum policies Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:48 PM PST  A European lawmaker for Denmark's ruling right-wing party said Saturday he was leaving the party over its controversial asylum policies, which include plans for police to search asylum seekers' luggage for valuables. "Denmark is currently experiencing a norm and value shift that I find deeply worrying," Jens Rohde of the Venstre party wrote on the website of daily Politiken, where he announced he was joining the centrist Danish Social Liberal Party. The EU parliamentarian said he had based his decision on Venstre's increasingly draconian policies to limit the number of asylum seekers, and growing EU scepticism within the party.
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| Niger arrests nine military officers for coup plot Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:37 PM PST  Niger's government has arrested nine military officers for planning a coup, the interior minister said on Saturday, more than doubling the number of arrests reported earlier this week. President Mahamadou Issoufou said in a televised address on Thursday the alleged coup-plotters had planned to use aerial firepower and had prevented the movement of military assets from the capital Niamey to the southern region of Diffa. Issoufou was elected in 2011, a year after a coup, and is running for a second term in polls scheduled for Feb. 21.
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| Diack denies funding Senegal president's campaign Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:25 PM PST  Former world athletics chief Lamine Diack denies helping fund Senegal president Macky Sall's election campaign in 2012, his lawyers said on Saturday. Diack has been charged in France with accepting Russian bribes to cover up positive drugs tests when he was president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). On Friday he was quoted in Le Monde newspaper claiming Russia had donated 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) to help Sall depose Abdoulaye Wade, who was Senegal president from 2000 until his defeat to Sall in March 2012.
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| Italian officials save southern olive trees from culling Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:08 PM PST ROME (AP) — Prosecutors in Italy's south have issued a no-cull order for some of the region's olive trees, saying there's no clear evidence that they are infected with bacteria. |
| ICC sends 2 convicted warlords to Congo prison Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:04 PM PST KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The International Criminal Court has sent two militia leaders convicted of committing war crimes in Congo to that country to serve the remainder of their prison sentences. |
