| Aid convoy reaches starving Syrian town of Madaya Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:42 PM PST  An aid convoy entered a besieged Syrian town on Monday where thousands have been trapped without supplies for months and people are reported to have died of starvation. Trucks carrying food and medical supplies reached Madaya near the Lebanese border and began to distribute aid as part of an agreement between warring sides, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross said. Dozens are said to have died in the town from starvation or a lack of medical care and activists say some inhabitants have been reduced to eating leaves.
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| U.S. may send strategic assets, but not warheads, to South Korea Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:53 PM PST  By Ju-min Park, Jee Heun Kahng and Arshad Mohammed SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and South Korea are discussing deploying more U.S. "strategic assets" to the region after North Korea's atomic test last week but not restoring U.S. nuclear arms to the South, a U.S. official said on Monday. North Korea said it tested a hydrogen bomb on Wednesday, displeasing China, its main ally, and the United States, which said it believed the blast was an ordinary atomic test rather than a much more powerful hydrogen bomb. In a show of force and support for allies in the region following North Korea's nuclear test, its fourth since 2006, the United States on Sunday sent a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber based in Guam on a flight over South Korea.
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| Mexico says Sean Penn meeting was 'essential' to finding kingpin Chapo Posted: 11 Jan 2016 02:48 PM PST  By Dave Graham and Anahi Rama LOS MOCHIS, Mexico (Reuters) - A secret meeting that Hollywood star Sean Penn held with the world's most-wanted drug boss, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, in pursuit of a magazine article was essential to finding the fugitive, Mexico's Attorney General said on Monday. Guzman, infamous head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was captured on Friday following a months-long manhunt after he tunneled out of a Mexican maximum security prison in July. Mexico has said it plans to extradite him to the United States, where he is wanted for exporting hundreds of tonnes of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin across the border.
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| Venezuelan court nulls congress decisions over barred lawmakers Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:21 PM PST  By Girish Gupta and Alexandra Ulmer CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the new National Assembly's decisions are void unless three banned opposition lawmakers are removed from office, deepening a power struggle over the opposition's new legislative majority. Already beset by a deep economic crisis, Venezuela now seems to be sliding into a protracted period of political turmoil as both a newly-emboldened opposition and President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government play hardball with each other. The Supreme Court in December blocked four lawmakers - three opposition and one allied with the government - from taking office after the Socialist Party made allegations of irregularities during last month's legislative election.
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| U.N. official says starvation exists in besieged Syrian towns Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:48 PM PST  By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - U.N. and relief agency workers saw starving people in two besieged Syrian areas where aid deliveries were made on Monday, a senior U.N. official said. An aid convoy entered the town of Madaya, besieged by government forces, where thousands had been trapped for months without supplies and people had been reported to have died of starvation. Yacoub El Hillo, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Syria who was in Madaya overseeing the operation to distribute food to over 40,000 people, said he had also received reports, which could not be confirmed, that at least 40 people had died of starvation.
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| Former China deputy security minister sentenced to 15 years jail: state TV Posted: 11 Jan 2016 05:12 PM PST  China's former vice public security minister Li Dongsheng was jailed for 15 years for corruption offences, China Central Television reported on its official microblog account on Tuesday. Li went on trial at a court in the northeastern city of Tianjin in October, charged with illegally accepting almost 22 million yuan ($3.5 million) worth of assets and abusing power in positions he held between 1996 and 2013, the official Xinhua news agency said at the time. Li had ties with ousted Chinese security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who was jailed for life in June after a secret trial in China's most sensational graft scandal in 70 years.
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| Mexican drug lord's men put up fierce fight Posted: 11 Jan 2016 05:11 PM PST  LOS MOCHIS, Mexico (AP) — At 4:40 a.m. in a central neighborhood of the Pacific coast city of Los Mochis, 17 Mexican marines began their assault on a safe house thinking there was a good chance Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was inside. The operation was dubbed "black swan."
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| One in four children in conflict zones 'risk losing their future': UNICEF Posted: 11 Jan 2016 05:08 PM PST  By Alex Whiting LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Nearly one in four children growing up in conflict zones are missing out on education, with South Sudan, Niger, Sudan and Afghanistan the worst-affected countries, the U.N. children's agency (UNICEF) said on Tuesday. An estimated 24 million children of school-going age are out of school in 22 countries affected by conflict, according to the agency's research. South Sudan has the largest proportion of children out of school, 51 percent, followed by 47 percent in Niger, 41 percent in Sudan and 40 percent in Afghanistan.
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| Sean Penn's daring dealings with 'El Chapo' draw U.S. scrutiny Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:43 PM PST  By Mica Rosenberg and Mark Hosenball NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. investigators will examine actor Sean Penn's interactions with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, two U.S. government sources said on Monday, but it is unclear if prosecutors would try to force the actor to turn over information about his interview with the recaptured drug kingpin. Mexico is pressing the U.S. government, which has requested Guzman's extradition, to find out more about Penn's dealings with the infamous head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, according to one U.S. government source who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
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| Freed Guantanamo detainees say they seek peace and quiet in Ghana Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:41 PM PST By Kwasi Kpodo ACCRA (Reuters) - Two Yemenis transferred to Ghana after their release from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba said on Monday they hoped to live peacefully and rebuild their lives in the West African country. Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih al-Dhuby were held in Guantanamo for more than a decade. Dozens of countries have received former Guantanamo Bay detainees but the transfers of Bin Atef and Dhuby were the first to Ghana. |
| 34 Aussie Rules players banned for doping Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:39 PM PST  Thirty-four Australian Football League (AFL) players were Tuesday slapped with lengthy bans for doping offences in a case officials called "the most devastating self-inflicted injury by a sporting club in Australian history". The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal against an AFL tribunal ruling last March that cleared past and present players from the Melbourne-based Essendon club of using the banned substance thymosin beta-4. The tribunal followed an in-depth probe by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) that examined the club's player supplements and sports science programme which sent shockwaves through the game.
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| Venezuelan high court declares opposition congress null Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:38 PM PST  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's Supreme Court on Monday declared that the new opposition-dominated congress' decisions are void until it unseats three barred lawmakers, bringing the country closer to a showdown over power in the legislature.
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| Tributes for iconic singer David Bowie Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:32 PM PST  LONDON (AP) — Tributes have poured in for singer David Bowie, who died Sunday aged 69. Politicians, entertainers, actors and astronauts have expressed their sadness at his death. Here is a look at some of the reactions:
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| Hundreds need urgent evacuation from besieged Syria town: ambassadors Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:29 PM PST  United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Some 400 people must be urgently evacuated from the besieged Syrian town of Madaya to receive medical care, the Spanish and New Zealand ambassadors to the United Nations said Monday.
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| Venezuela high court voids legislature's actions Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:26 PM PST  Venezuela's Supreme Court ruled Monday the opposition-held National Assembly's actions are null and void after the new legislature defied its rulings, escalating the political turmoil gripping the crisis-hit country. The decision, which applies to "all acts... that have been taken or will be taken" by the current National Assembly, comes after the legislature's new speaker swore in three opposition lawmakers whose inauguration had been barred by the court over an election dispute. It declared the three lawmakers and the National Assembly's leadership in contempt of court and invalidated the legislature's actions for as long as the trio hold their seats.
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| Prokhorov: Easy decision to begin Nets' reset now Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:24 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov wanted a championship, and his team never got close.
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| Top Asian News 12:24 a.m. GMT Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:24 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House of Representatives House pushed ahead on legislation that seeks to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test by expanding sanctions on Pyongyang, a move with strong bipartisan support despite questions over how effective the new restrictions can be. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote Tuesday on the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act, which proposes to deny North Korea the hard currency they say it needs for its weapons programs. Holding the vote tomorrow puts it on the same day as President Barack Obama's final State of the Union address. But former State Department officials said any new sanctions won't have teeth unless China makes a major shift in policy toward its rebellious ally. |
| Helicopter pilot critically injured in Antarctic Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:23 PM PST CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A helicopter pilot was in critical condition at an Australian Antarctic base after falling into a crevasse, officials said Tuesday. |
| GPS vultures swoop down on illegal dumps in Peru Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:07 PM PST  The lowly vulture is a dirty scavenger to many, but Peruvian environmental authorities have recast the birds as superheroes and outfitted them with high-tech gear in a bid to crack down on illegal garbage dumps. Wearing GPS trackers and mini video cameras, 10 vultures with mythological names have been dispatched to lead authorities to the illegal dumps whose runoff pollutes the rivers and Pacific coastline of the Peruvian capital Lima. In a public service announcement that looks like a Hollywood action movie preview, a "vulture" describes the campaign as a life-and-death battle between the teeming city's human population and the ominous menace of disease-carrying trash.
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| Merkel says Europe is vulnerable in refugee crisis Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:06 PM PST German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that Europe was "vulnerable" in the refugee crisis because it was not yet in control of the situation to the extent that it would like to be. "Now all of a sudden we are facing the challenge that refugees are coming to Europe and we are vulnerable, as we see, because we do not yet have the order, the control, that we would like to have," Merkel said at a business event in Mainz, near Frankfurt. |
| CAS imposes severe doping bans on 34 AFL players Posted: 11 Jan 2016 04:06 PM PST MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended 34 current or former Essendon players for the 2016 season after ruling in favor of the World Anti-Doping Agency and setting aside the Australian Football League's initial decision to clear the athletes in the biggest doping scandal in the country's history. |
| The multiple indictments 'El Chapo' faces across US Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:56 PM PST  Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is set to mount a tough battle against his extradition to the United States, where he faces federal charges in California, Chicago, Miami, New York and Texas. In multiple indictments stretching back 20 years, Guzman is accused of murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping and money laundering linked to his multibillion-dollar drug empire.
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| Mali: UN must enable peacekeepers to confront terrorists Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:46 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. peacekeepers in Mali should have a mandate to confront terrorist groups threatening a fragile process, the West African country's foreign minister said Monday. |
| Shock as music icon David Bowie dies at 69 Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:45 PM PST  Legions of fans and musicians voiced shock Monday as David Bowie died at 69 following a secret battle with cancer, in a surprise final chapter for one of the most influential artists of his time. Brian Eno, who worked with Bowie on his legendary Berlin Trilogy of albums, said that Bowie sent him an email a week ago that was typical for its wordplay and invented names. "It ended with this sentence: 'Thank you for our good times, Brian.
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| U.S. aircraft bombs Islamic State cash pile in Iraq: U.S. military Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:44 PM PST A U.S. aircraft bombed an Islamic State cash distribution site in Iraq on Monday, part of efforts by the American-led coalition to disrupt the militant group's financing of its activities, the U.S. military said. "The bulk cash distribution site was used by ISIL to distribute money to fund terrorist activities," Lieutenant Commander Ben Tisdale, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, said in a statement, using an acronym for the militant group. |
| Judge reduces bond for mother of Texas 'affluenza' teen Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:42 PM PST FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The mother of a Texas teenager who used an "affluenza" defense for a deadly wreck could soon leave jail after a judge on Monday sharply reduced her bond. |
| With face paint and flowers, fans worldwide mourn Bowie Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:39 PM PST  From his birthplace in London to his adopted home in New York, David Bowie fans around the world gathered Monday to mourn a star who many said had shaped their lives. A crowd of around 2,000 people headed in the evening to the gritty south London district of Brixton where he was born -- some clutching beers, others wearing Bowie t-shirts -- to lay flowers beneath a giant mural of his face. Lines of Bowie's hit song "Space Oddity" rang through the chill winter air as fans played guitar and others sang along, several wearing the lightening bolt face makeup or shocking red mullet of "Aladdin Sane", one of Bowie's many stage personas.
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| Apparent security easing precedes drug lord's recapture Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:33 PM PST  LIMA, Peru (AP) — As the world's most hunted man, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman had to know the most sophisticated information and surveillance technology available was marshalled against him: satellites, unmanned aircraft, NSA and DEA eavesdroppers, malware-sowing Mexican state hackers.
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| Even I'm bored by United admits Van Gaal Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:30 PM PST  Louis van Gaal admits there have been times this season when even he has been left feeling bored and angry by Manchester United's lacklustre displays. United ended an eight-match winless run by defeating Swansea nine days ago and then followed that victory up with a narrow success in the FA Cup against third tier Sheffield United. Paul Scholes branded United's style of play boring earlier this season and following Saturday's 1-0 victory in the FA Cup, the former Old Trafford great claimed both Van Gaal and his players even looked bored during the third round tie.
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| Iceman mummy reveals new clues about stomach bacteria Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:29 PM PST A 5,300 year-old mummified corpse known as the Iceman, or Oetzi, is offering scientists new clues about a stomach infection. Scientists at the EURAC Institute of Mummies and the Iceman in northern Italy removed the bacteria Helicobacter pylori from the mummy and conducted a DNA analysis. It showed the Iceman had an unmixed strain of the bacteria not seen in modern humans. |
| Canadian tourist detained in Afghanistan since 2010 released Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:18 PM PST  TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian man, held by the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2010, has been released, Canada's government announced Monday.
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| David Bowie never stopped looking ahead Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:15 PM PST  It was hardly a coincidence that David Bowie named his greatest hits collection "Changes."
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| A look at the extradition process for 'El Chapo' Guzman Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:08 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — With Mexican authorities saying they're committed to extraditing Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the United States, it appears more likely than ever that American prosecutors will eventually get their hands on the drug lord. |
| Nations vow better intel sharing to halt terror attacks Posted: 11 Jan 2016 03:02 PM PST  Foreign ministers and diplomats from over 50 nations on Monday bowed to calls for greater information sharing to stop extremists slipping across borders to carry out attacks, making concrete pledges to plug dangerous intelligence lapses. "We all agree that we need to share information better, smarter and faster," Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders told a press conference. Intel sharing "has to be more precise including in such areas as the interruption of travel plans and the financing of terror plans".
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| Syria's UN envoy says no starvation in Madaya Posted: 11 Jan 2016 02:55 PM PST  Syria's envoy to the United Nations on Monday dismissed as fabrications reports that civilians were dying of starvation in a town besieged by government forces. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari spoke after a convoy of 44 trucks loaded with food, baby formula, blankets and other supplies entered Madaya, where medical charity MSF says 28 people have starved to death since December 1. "Actually, there was no starvation in Madaya," Jaafari told reporters at UN headquarters.
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| Strong earthquake struck off Indonesia's Talaud islands Posted: 11 Jan 2016 02:55 PM PST JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A strong earthquake struck off North Sulawesi province in central Indonesia, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. |
| Mali's jihadists draw strength from peace deal delays: army Posted: 11 Jan 2016 02:51 PM PST  Delays in implementing the security measures of a Mali peace deal signed last year is making it harder for the army to counter resurgent jihadist groups, an army chief of the West African country said on Monday. Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda who seized urban centers in Mali's desert north in 2012 were scattered by French forces a year later. "The (security) situation is complicated by the lack of control and clarity on the movements of armed groups who signed the peace deal due to multiple delays in the implementation of DDR (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration)," said General Didier Dackouo, the army's number two official, in a speech before President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita at his palace.
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