| Syria's Assad says taking Aleppo from rebels key to pushing 'terrorists' back to Turkey Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:35 PM PDT  By Jack Stubbs and Ellen Francis MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said on Friday that the Syrian army's capture of Aleppo, which has come under renewed bombardment in an effort to seize its rebel-held sector, would be "a very important springboard" to pushing "terrorists" back to Turkey. Rescue workers said that Syria's military backed by Russian warplanes had killed more than 150 people in eastern Aleppo this week, in support of its offensive against the city. Rising casualties in Aleppo, where many buildings have been reduced to rubble or are lacking roofs or walls, have prompted an international outcry and a renewed diplomatic push, with talks between the United States and Russia planned for Saturday.
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| U.S. military strikes Yemen after missile attacks on U.S. Navy ship Posted: 13 Oct 2016 01:18 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military launched cruise missiles on Thursday against three coastal radar sites in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi forces, after failed missile attacks this week on a U.S. Navy destroyer, U.S. officials said. Yemen's Houthi movement condemned the strikes and Iran announced it had sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, establishing a military presence in waters off Yemen.
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| 'How does it feel?' - Bob Dylan wins Nobel literature prize Posted: 13 Oct 2016 01:51 PM PDT  By Alistair Scrutton and Scott Malone STOCKHOLM/BOSTON (Reuters) - Bob Dylan, a powerful voice of social turmoil in the United States from the 1960s onward, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday in a surprise decision that made him the first singer-songwriter to win the honor. The 75-year-old Dylan, who won the prize for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition," joins a long line of novelists, poets and playwrights including Octavio Paz, Albert Camus and Ernest Hemingway. The decision angered some writers who complained that by highlighting one of the world's most celebrated musicians the Swedish Academy missed an opportunity to bring attention to lesser-known artists.
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| Car bomb near Syria-Turkey border crossing kills at least 20: witnesses Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:09 PM PDT At least 20 people, mostly Syrian rebel fighters, were killed after a car bomb exploded on Thursday near a checkpoint close to the Bab al Salama crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in northern Syria, two witnesses said. |
| France's Juppe seen winning first primary debate: poll Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:26 PM PDT  Former Prime Minister Alain Juppe was seen as the winner of the first debate on Thursday among candidates for the center-right's nomination in France's 2017 presidential election, a poll published immediately afterward showed. Juppe, already the front-runner on a centrist platform of "happy identity" which he said in the televised debate meant giving voters hope, was seen as most convincing by 32 percent of those who said they would vote in the end-November primaries. Nicolas Sarkozy, a former president running on a law-and-order agenda meant, he said, "to ensure France once more becomes the great nation it is," convinced 27 percent of voters in the two-hour debate.
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| South Asian tensions seen dominating Indian BRICS summit Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:50 PM PDT  By Douglas Busvine NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will take its drive to isolate Pakistan and rally the international community against cross-border militancy to a summit of emerging market powers this weekend, when it hosts BRICS nations in the western state of Goa. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the gathering of leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa offers an opportunity to highlight the threat he sees to Indian security from recent frontier clashes with Pakistan.
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| Powerful Hurricane Nicole wreaks havoc on Bermuda Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:49 PM PDT  Hurricane Nicole plowed directly into Bermuda on Thursday, causing widespread damage and knocking out power to most homes and businesses while apparently sparing the tiny Atlantic island chain any severe injuries or fatalities, government officials said. Nicole, the strongest hurricane to sweep the subtropical British territory in more than a decade, made landfall before noon, packing sustained winds of up 120 miles per hour (195 kph) and ranked as a fierce Category 3 storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. By then the low-lying archipelago, occupying just 21 square miles (54 sq km) and home to more than 65,000 people, had been lashed for hours with torrential rain, hurricane-force winds and pounding surf, Bermuda Premier Michael Dunkley told Reuters by telephone.
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| Top Asian News 12:46 a.m. GMT Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:46 PM PDT BANGKOK (AP) — In an age when most of the world's blue bloods cut ribbons and meekly approved whatever their governments proposed, the 70-year reign of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej stood out in sharp relief, perhaps a throwback to a long-vanished past. Enjoying an almost god-like status, Bhumibol wielded real political power and inspired mass popularity as the world's longest-reigning monarch. Despite being held in great reverence, the king waded through rice paddies and trudged up hillsides to improve life for Thailand's have-nots. He could squat humbly with lowland farmers and opium-growing hill tribesmen to talk about crops, irrigation and even their marital problems. |
| When king ascended, Thailand wasn't even Thailand Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:45 PM PDT  BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand has undergone a dramatic transformation over King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 70-year reign, largely propelled by one of the world's fastest-growing economies and a willingness to open up to the outside world. Some of the changes since the king ascended the throne in 1946, when the kingdom was known as Siam:
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| UN chief to visit hurricane-hit Haiti as funding appeal falls short Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:39 PM PDT  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel to Haiti on Saturday to visit areas devastated by Hurricane Matthew as a UN funding appeal for the Caribbean nation drew few donors. Ban will visit Les Cayes on Haiti's southern coast -- one of the cities hardest-hit by Matthew -- and meet with Haitian leaders, his office said. The United Nations has launched a flash appeal for $120 million to help Haiti cope with its worst humanitarian crisis since the 2010 earthquake.
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| Give peace a chance: Colombia extends ceasefire with rebels Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:35 PM PDT  BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Thursday that he is extending a ceasefire with Colombia's largest rebel movement in a bid to give more time to efforts to save a peace deal rejected by voters.
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| Colombia's president extends ceasefire with FARC through yearend Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:34 PM PDT  Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday extended his ceasefire with Marxist FARC rebels through the end of the year as he seeks to revive a peace accord to end five decades of war after voters rejected the hard-fought deal in a referendum. The original ceasefire, which was put in place in August, was nullified when the peace accord was rejected in plebiscite earlier this month. Santos said he decided to extend the ceasefire further after meeting with student leaders who had organized two huge marches through Bogota to show support for a peace accord.
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| The Latest: Australian PM calls Thai king a major figure Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:23 PM PDT  BANGKOK (AP) — The Latest on the death of Thailand's King Bhumibol, the world's longest-reigning monarch, (all times local):
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| Lealiifano to undergo bone marrow transplant next month Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:21 PM PDT CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian international Christian Lealiifano is set to undergo a bone marrow transplant next month as he continues his recovery from leukemia, and remains hopeful of returning to play rugby at some level. |
| Chile regulator draws up charges against Antofagasta's Los Pelambres mine Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:05 PM PDT  Chile's environmental regulator on Thursday drew up various charges against the Los Pelambres copper mine for mismanaging water resources and nearby flora, charges which could lead to stiff fines or even closure. Of the nine alleged violations at Los Pelambres, controlled by Antofagasta Minerals, five were considered serious and four minor, according to the SMA. Antofagasta could not be immediately reached for comment.
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| Celebrities rally behind filmmaker arrested in pipeline protests Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:03 PM PDT  Singer Neil Young, actor Mark Ruffalo and other celebrities on Thursday joined in calling for charges to be dropped against a documentary maker arrested while filming protesters who shut down oil pipelines from Canada to the United States, saying that she was acting as a journalist. Deia Schlosberg, producer of the 2016 documentary "How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change", was taken into custody at a TransCanada Corp's Keystone Pipeline site in Pembina County, North Dakota.
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| Gordon Tietjens appointed as Samoa sevens coach Posted: 13 Oct 2016 05:03 PM PDT WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Samoa announced the appointment of former long-serving New Zealand head coach Gordon Tietjens as its national rugby sevens coach on Friday. |
| Hurricane Nicole pummels Bermuda with wind, then spins away Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:58 PM PDT  HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) — Hurricane Nicole roared across Bermuda on Thursday, pummeling the resort island with winds up to 115 mph that snapped trees and peeled off roofs before the storm spun away into open water.
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| Assad says Aleppo to serve as springboard for liberation Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:54 PM PDT MOSCOW (AP) — A military victory in Aleppo would provide the Syrian army a springboard from which to liberate other areas of the country from "terrorists," President Bashar Assad said in an interview with a Russian media outlet. |
| Tuna cannery in American Samoa to halt production Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:49 PM PDT  PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (AP) — One of the two tuna canning companies operating in American Samoa announced Thursday it plans to suspend production in December.
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| Brazil opens Latin America's 1st elephant refuge Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:38 PM PDT  CHAPADA DOS GUIMARAES, Brazil (AP) — Maia grunts and nervously moves her huge body back and forth while being released from a transport container to a new home. Here, there are no gawking crowds for the Asian elephant that has spent her life in captivity. There are no blows from bull hooks, no one demanding tricks like people did when she was in the circus.
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| Boko Haram frees 21 Chibok girls, raising hope for others Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:36 PM PDT  Jihadist group Boko Haram has freed 21 of the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped more than two years ago, raising hopes for the release of the others, officials said Thursday. Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo met with the freed girls in Abuja and expressed joy over their release. Local sources said their release was part of a prisoner swap with the Nigerian government, but the authorities denied doing a deal with Boko Haram.
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| China to sign some $24 billion in loans to Bangladesh as Xi visits Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:16 PM PDT  By Ruma Paul and Ben Blanchard DHAKA/BEIJING (Reuters) - China is set to sign off on loans worth over $24 billion to Bangladesh during President Xi Jinping's visit on Friday, Dhaka's biggest foreign credit line to date that will help it build power plants, a seaport and railways. Xi's trip, the first by a Chinese president in 30 years, is aimed at boosting China's involvement in infrastructure projects at a time when India is pushing investments of its own in Bangladesh, a country New Delhi considers its area of influence. Japan, helped by India, has also got involved in Bangladesh, offering finance at low interest rates to build a port and power complex, sharpening competition for influence in the country of 160 million people located on the Bay of Bengal.
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| Big farm opportunities seen for business in 2030 U.N. goals Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:08 PM PDT  A commission including chief executives of Unilever and Aviva as well as academics and civil society groups said companies could exploit U.N. plans to end poverty and hunger and protect the planet by 2030. "Instead of treating it as 'Oh my God, another huge global problem to worry about' ... you can break it down into chunks of real business possibility," Mark Malloch-Brown, chair of the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, told Reuters. The Commission, launched in January, said businesses could unlock about $2.3 billion a year in food and agriculture sectors by investing $360 billion a year to help achieve the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
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| Japan's little prince could be last emperor on unreformed Chrysanthemum Throne Posted: 13 Oct 2016 04:07 PM PDT  By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - When Prince Hisahito was born in 2006, ending a 41-year drought in imperial male heirs, Japan's government gladly dropped proposals that women might head the world's oldest monarchy, but a decade later the little prince remains the last hope for an unreformed Chrysanthemum Throne. The issue is back in focus after Emperor Akihito, 82, hinted two months ago at abdication, with only five heirs in the line of succession, including Hisahito, his sole grandson. The four older heirs are Akihito's centenarian uncle, an 80-year-old brother, and two middle-aged sons whose wives are in their early 50s.
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| Russia offers to secure rebel evacuation from Syria's Aleppo Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:57 PM PDT  Russia said Thursday it was prepared to secure safe passage for rebels to quit Syria's Aleppo but kept up air strikes on the battleground city as world powers readied new truce talks. In a development demonstrating the perils of journeying in the war-wracked country, at least 17 people -- most of them rebels -- died in a car bomb blast at an opposition checkpoint in northern Aleppo province on Thursday, a monitor said. The blast hit near the town of Azaz close to the border with Turkey, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that 14 of the dead were rebel fighters.
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| Sarkozy on defensive in first French presidential primary debate Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:54 PM PDT  Nicolas Sarkozy was forced onto the defensive Thursday over his legal woes in the first debate of right-wing rivals for the French presidency, including the man tipped to lead the country, Alain Juppe. Former president Sarkozy is trailing ex-prime minister Juppe, 71, in the race for the right-wing nomination, to be decided in a highly anticipated November primary that is expected to produce the next president of France. With the jihadist threat uppermost in voters' minds following a series of deadly attacks, the primary campaign has tipped over into populism, with Sarkozy particularly accused of chasing after far-right National Front (FN) voters.
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| Syria's Assad: Taking Aleppo will push 'terrorists' back to Turkey - newspaper Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:52 PM PDT Taking the city of Aleppo from rebel forces will be a springboard for Syria's army to push the "terrorists" back to Turkey, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told a Russian newspaper on Friday. "You have to keep cleaning this area and to push the terrorists to Turkey to go back to where they come from, or to kill them. There's no other option," Assad said in an interview with Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda. |
| Historic town swamped, 22 dead in North Carolina flooding Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:49 PM PDT  By Jonathan Drake TARBORO, N.C. (Reuters) - Floodwaters inundated the historic black town of Princeville, North Carolina, on Thursday, leaving homes submerged to their roof lines as the state's death toll in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew climbed to 22. Flooding from the Tar River had been expected in Princeville, which was founded in 1885 and believed to be the oldest U.S. town incorporated by freed slaves, and most of its 2,000 residents evacuated. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory described a dramatic rise in the water level in the town, long been plagued by flooding and devastated by floods after Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
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| Brazil's Silva to stand 3rd trial in corruption probe Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:49 PM PDT RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will face corruption charges in connection with an alleged scheme involving the construction giant Odebrecht. |
| Thailand wakes to uncertainty, grief without King Bhumibol Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:42 PM PDT  By Robert Birsel BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's people woke up on Friday to the first day in 70 years without King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a king worshipped as a father-figure who guided the nation through decades of change and turmoil. The king, the world's longest-reigning monarch, died in a Bangkok hospital on Thursday. Thailand has endured bomb attacks and economic worries recently while rivalry simmers between the military-led establishment and populist political forces after a decade of turmoil including two coups and deadly protests.
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| Syrian activists say at least 17 killed in bomb blast Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:32 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists say at least 17 people, most of them fighters, have been killed in a car bomb blast at a rebel checkpoint near the Turkish border. |
| Hurricane Matthew relief effort in Haiti enters new phase Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:28 PM PDT  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — An international relief effort for victims of Hurricane Matthew entered a more advanced stage Thursday as a second U.S. military ship arrived off Haiti's coast and U.N. convoys and non-government organizations began reaching more isolated communities.
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| Four Malian soldiers killed in mine explosions: sources Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:23 PM PDT  Four Malian soldiers were killed Thursday and seven others injured in landmine explosions in the centre of the sprawling country, the defence ministry said. It said four soldiers died and seven were injured in the morning attack when they were on a mission to get supplies. "Two army cars were charred after three landmines exploded," the officer said, adding that several soldiers were injured in the morning attack.
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| UN chief to visit hurricane-ravaged Haiti Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:20 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit hurricane-ravaged Haiti on Saturday. |
| Israel slams UNESCO over 'Occupied Jerusalem' Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:07 PM PDT  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted UNESCO for holding a vote Thursday on "Occupied Palestine" saying the Paris-based UN cultural body has lost its legitimacy. The resolutions put forward by several Arab countries including Egypt, Lebanon and Algeria, were adopted at committee stage and are to be submitted Tuesday to UNESCO's executive body. The resolutions refer to "Occupied Palestine" and aim to "safeguard the Palestinian cultural heritage and the distinctive character of East Jerusalem", according to a text seen by AFP.
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| Man charged with stealing $160,000 worth of Jamaican cheese Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:03 PM PDT HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey man has been charged with stealing more than $160,000 worth of Jamaican cheese. |
| Thai King Bhumibol, world's longest-reigning monarch, dies: palace Posted: 13 Oct 2016 03:02 PM PDT  By Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch and a father-figure to the nation, died in hospital on Thursday. King Bhumibol reigned for seven decades after ascending the throne in 1946, providing a pillar of stability during the Cold War, the long conflict in Vietnam and his country's own political upheaval and rapid development. The military government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who has kept a tight grip on power since toppling an elected government in 2014, will try to allay long-standing concerns that Thailand's sharp political divisions could worsen without the king.
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