| Obama, trying to protect legacy, unlikely to act on Mideast peace Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:40 PM PST  By Arshad Mohammed and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama, keen to preserve his legacy on domestic health care and the Iran nuclear deal, is not expected to make major moves on Israeli-Palestinian peace before leaving office, U.S. officials said on Thursday. One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the last word on the president's failed peace effort might come from Secretary of State John Kerry at an appearance on Sunday at an annual Middle East conference in Washington. Obama's aides are wary of being seen picking a fight with Donald Trump at a time when he hopes to persuade the Republican President-elect to preserve parts of his legacy, including the Iran nuclear deal, Obamacare and the opening to Cuba.
|
| Grim Hollande says he won't seek second term as French president Posted: 01 Dec 2016 04:19 PM PST  By Ingrid Melander PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande shocked France on Thursday by announcing he would not seek a second term next year, acknowledging his deep unpopularity and making way for another leftist candidate to take on conservative Francois Fillon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen. The surprise announcement - effectively an admission that by running again he would hurt his Socialist party's chances - marks the first time since France's fifth Republic was created in 1958 that an incumbent president has not sought a second mandate. "I am aware today of the risk that going down a route that would not gather sufficient support would entail, so I have decided not to be a candidate in the presidential election," a sombre-looking Hollande said in a televised address.
|
| British fighters to overfly South China Sea; carriers in Pacific after 2020: envoy Posted: 01 Dec 2016 04:11 PM PST  By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - British fighter planes visiting Japan will fly over the South China Sea and Britain will sail aircraft carriers in the Pacific once they are operational in 2020, given concerns about freedom of navigation there, Britain's ambassador to the United States said on Thursday. The envoy, Kim Darroch, told a Washington think tank that British Typhoon aircraft currently deployed on a visit to Japan would fly across disputed parts of the South China Sea to assert international overflight rights, but gave no time frame.
|
| South Korea imposes unilateral sanctions on North Korea Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:23 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea blacklisted senior North Korean officials, including leader Kim Jong Un's top aides, on Friday in fresh unilateral sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The South Korean government said in a statement it would ban entry by foreign missile and nuclear experts if their visits to North Korea were deemed to be a threat to the South's national interests. Seoul's action came after the U.N. Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Wednesday aimed at cutting Pyongyang's annual export revenue by a quarter. ...
|
| Approval rating of South Korea's Park remains at record low 4 percent: poll Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:21 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Park Geun-hye's approval rating remained at a record low of 4 percent, according to a Gallup Korea opinion poll released on Friday, amid a growing political scandal. Park is under intense pressure to step down over a corruption scandal involving a close friend accused of meddling in state affairs. Gallup Korea, based in Seoul, is not affiliated with U.S.-based Gallup Inc. (Reporting by Jack Kim and Yun Hwan Chae; Editing by Paul Tait)
|
| Thousands of Muslims gather for protest against Jakarta governor Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:31 PM PST  By Kanupriya Kapoor JAKARTA (Reuters) - Thousands of white-clad Muslims streamed toward a central Jakarta park on Friday, gathering for a rally expected to draw more than 100,000 Indonesians demanding the arrest of the capital's governor, a Christian accused of insulting the Koran. Muslim groups accuse Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama of insulting the Koran, though they have pledged that Friday's demonstration will be peaceful.. Protesters began moving from the hulking Istiqlal mosque toward the National Monument in the center of the city at around 5 a.m., after morning prayers. "We are expecting over 100,000 participants," Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono said late on Thursday.
|
| New Haiti leader claims victory and calls for order Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:31 PM PST  Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Jovenel Moise, the provisional winner of Haiti's presidential election with 55 percent of the vote in the first round, has claimed victory, calling on demonstrators to stand down and restore order in the capital. "That means what?
|
| Strong quake felt in south Peru; houses topple but no deaths Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:30 PM PST LIMA, Peru (AP) — A strong, shallow earthquake struck a sparsely populated area in Peru's southern Andes near Lake Titicaca on Thursday, toppling some adobe houses but apparently causing no casualties, authorities said. |
| Thousands join blasphemy protest in Indonesian capital Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:19 PM PST  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Tens of thousands of conservative Muslims rallied in the Indonesian capital on Friday in the second major protest in a month against its minority Christian governor.
|
| Top Asian News 1:17 a.m. GMT Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:17 PM PST BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand has a new king, with the country's crown prince formally taking the throne to succeed his much-revered late father, who reigned for 70 years. The new monarch, who received the title "His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun," assumed his new position Thursday, according to an announcement broadcast on all TV channels. He will also be known as Rama X, the tenth king in the Chakri dynasty that was founded in 1782. A videotaped broadcast showed senior officials presenting the formal invitation to the prince to become king, and then his acceptance. It then showed the officials prostrate themselves at the feet of the new king, who was wearing a formal white uniform with decorations. |
| Ailing Buzz Aldrin evacuated from South Pole to New Zealand Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:14 PM PST  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — An ailing Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, was evacuated from the South Pole to New Zealand where he was hospitalized Thursday in stable condition.
|
| U.N. chief sorry for U.N. role in deadly Haiti cholera outbreak Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:02 PM PST  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - - Outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon apologized to the people of Haiti on Thursday for the world body's role in a deadly cholera outbreak that has killed more than 9,300 people and was blamed on Nepali U.N. peacekeepers. Haiti was free of cholera until 2010, when the peacekeepers dumped infected sewage into a river. The United Nations does not accept legal responsibility for the outbreak of the disease that causes uncontrollable diarrhea and has sickened 800,000 people.
|
| Australia to keep convicted terrorists in prison longer Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:01 PM PST CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's prime minister says the government has enacted a law that will allow officials to keep convicted terrorists in prison after they have served their sentences. |
| Key bloc Mercosur suspends Venezuela: source Posted: 01 Dec 2016 04:56 PM PST  Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Key South American economic bloc Mercosur has suspended crisis-hit Venezuela for failing to meet democratic and trade standards, a government source in member country Brazil said Thursday.
|
| Great Barrier Reef 'not dying', Australia insists Posted: 01 Dec 2016 04:46 PM PST  The Great Barrier Reef is "not dying", Australia insisted Friday, as it updated UNESCO on efforts to protect the natural wonder while scientists blasted a lack of urgency in dealing with climate change. Canberra last year narrowly avoided the UN body putting the site on its endangered list and was ordered to report to the World Heritage committee by December 1 on its "Reef 2050" rescue plan. The giant ecosystem is under pressure from farming run-off, development, the crown-of-thorns starfish and climate change, which led to a mass bleaching event this year that devastated swathes of coral.
|
| City plan to prove a point in Chelsea showdown Posted: 01 Dec 2016 04:39 PM PST  Manchester City will aim to prove their hectic schedule won't stop them winning the Premier League when leaders Chelsea visit Eastlands for a enthralling showdown on Saturday. City are one point behind Chelsea heading into the first meeting this season between two teams who have quickly emerged as leading title contenders under their new managers. While City featuring in a title battle only five months into Pep Guardiola's reign is hardly a surprise given the club's financial muscle and their Spanish manager's impeccable CV, Chelsea's presence at the top of the table is more unexpected.
|
| Week-old baby among 6 dead from flooding in Colombia Posted: 01 Dec 2016 04:37 PM PST BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Six people including an 8-day-old baby were killed when their home was washed away Thursday by heavy rains in the southern Colombian city of Cali. |
| UN apologizes for Haiti cholera spread, not for causing it Posted: 01 Dec 2016 04:17 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon apologized Thursday for the U.N. not doing enough to contain the spread of a cholera outbreak in Haiti, but he stopped short of apologizing for bringing the disease to the Caribbean nation. |
| U.S. veterans arrive at pipeline protest camp in North Dakota Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:55 PM PST  By Terray Sylvester and Alicia Underlee Nelson CANNON BALL/WEST FARGO, N.D. (Reuters) - U.S. military veterans were arriving on Thursday at a camp to join thousands of activists braving snow and freezing temperatures to protest a pipeline project near a Native American reservation in North Dakota. Protesters have spent months rallying against plans to route the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, saying it poses a threat to water resources and sacred Native American sites. State officials on Monday ordered activists to vacate the Oceti Sakowin camp, located on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, citing harsh weather conditions.
|
| Polls close in London suburb 'Brexit by-election' Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:51 PM PST  Polls closed on Thursday in a parliamentary by-election in the posh London suburb of Richmond which has turned into a mini-referendum on Brexit in a pro-EU heartland. Liberal Democrat challenger Sarah Olney, whose centrist party wants a second referendum on Brexit, is hoping the result will send shockwaves through Downing Street as the government presses on towards the EU exit door. Olney is running against Zac Goldsmith, who held the seat for Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party but quit in protest after the government backed expanding the nearby Heathrow Airport.
|
| Magnitude 6.3 quake hits southern Peru -USGS Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:49 PM PST (Reuters) - A powerful magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck southern Peru on Thursday close to Lake Titicaca, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The tremor struck at 5:40 p.m. EST (2240 GMT), some 48 miles (77 km) northwest of the town of Juliaca close to Lake Titicaca, which lies in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia. Peru's national earthquake institute measured the quake as 5.5 and there were no immediate reports of damage. The quake was very shallow, only 2.2 miles (3.5 km) below the Earth's surface, which would have amplified its effect, according to the USGS. ... |
| Jones & Cheika phoney war overshadows England vs Wallabies Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:37 PM PST LONDON (AP) — The last rugby test of the year is between Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika. |
| Gambia's internet cut as 'billion-year' leader faces challenge Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:37 PM PST  Gambian President Yahya Jammeh faced the strongest electoral challenge of his 22-year rule Thursday as voters went to the polls, braving an internet and phone blackout the government defended as a security measure. After an unprecedented two-week opposition campaign that has energised his rivals, Jammeh rumbled into the capital's cricket ground in a 4X4 and after casting his vote predicted his best score ever. "By the grace of the almighty Allah, there will be the biggest landslide in the history of my elections," said Jammeh, wearing his usual white robes and sunglasses and carrying a staff and Koran.
|
| Brazil Senate boss Calheiros indicted for embezzlement Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:29 PM PST  By Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court indicted the president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, on Thursday for embezzlement, a ruling that is expected to fan growing tensions between the judiciary and Congress over corruption cases. The top court voted 8-3 to try the senator on charges of misusing public funds in a nine-year-old case involving the payment of child support for a daughter Calheiros had in an extramarital affair. Calheiros was indicted for billing the Senate for car rentals with false contracts.
|
| Russia: Space ship malfunctions, breaks up over Siberia Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:29 PM PST  MOSCOW (AP) — An unmanned Russian cargo spaceship heading to the International Space Station broke up in the atmosphere over Siberia on Thursday due to an unspecified malfunction, the Russian space agency said.
|
| Brazil political drama deepens with graft plea deal Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:23 PM PST  Brasília (AFP) - A political drama threatening Brazil's President Michel Temer deepened Thursday with judges ordering his top ally to stand trial and corruption suspects lining up to make more potentially explosive revelations. After a roller-coaster year for Brazil, the latest allegations risk destabilizing Temer just six months after he took office, as he seeks to rescue Latin America's biggest economy from crisis. Supreme Court judges ruled that Brazil's third-most powerful official, Senate president Renan Calheiros, 61, must face trial for alleged embezzlement.
|
| UN chief Ban apologizes to Haitian people over cholera epidemic Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:20 PM PST  "On behalf of the United Nations, I want to say very clearly we apologize to the Haitian people," he said three times -- in Haitian Creole, French and English -- to the UN General Assembly. "We simply did not do enough with regards to the cholera outbreak and its spread in Haiti," Ban said. According to numerous independent experts, cholera was introduced to Haiti by infected Nepalese UN peacekeepers sent to the Caribbean country after the massive 2010 earthquake.
|
| Japanese teen Nasa Hataoka, Mel Reid top LPGA Tour Q-school Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:18 PM PST DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Japanese teen Nasa Hataoka and two-time European Solheim Cup player Mel Reid shared the second-round lead Thursday in the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament. |
| Mexican billionaire Slim says Trump could be good for Mexico Posted: 01 Dec 2016 02:59 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim says a Donald Trump presidency could be good news for Mexico.
|
| France's Hollande: 'Mr Normal' faced extraordinary hurdles Posted: 01 Dec 2016 02:55 PM PST  French President Francois Hollande, who announced Thursday he would not seek re-election, said he wanted to be "Mr Normal" at the start of his time in office -- but his four years at the helm have been anything but. Hollande is by many measures France's most unpopular post-war president -- yet until Thursday many critics feared he genuinely believed he could still unite the left that has fractured in front of his eyes in recent months. The 62-year-old had appeared to be tentatively building up to a re-election bid, inviting widespread derision earlier this year when he insisted in a question-and-answer session that things in France were "getting better".
|
| Victims' relatives in Brazil say soccer-team crash avoidable Posted: 01 Dec 2016 02:52 PM PST  CHAPECO, Brazil (AP) — Relatives of victims who died in an air crash that killed most members of the Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense spoke out in anger Thursday, with several saying the crash was avoidable.
|
| UAE midfielder Abdulrahman voted Asian player of the year Posted: 01 Dec 2016 02:46 PM PST  ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Attacking midfielder Omar Abdulrahman won the Asian Football Confederation player of the year award for helping Al Ain reach the final of the continental club championship and steering the United Arab Emirates into the last round of qualifying for the World Cup.
|
| Southgate warns England stars to toe the line Posted: 01 Dec 2016 02:46 PM PST  England will not advance as a team if their off-field behaviour continues to cause distractions, new manager Gareth Southgate warned on Thursday. Southgate found himself dealing with a media firestorm last month when it emerged captain Wayne Rooney and other players had stayed up late drinking on a night-off during the international break. While Southgate is reluctant to impose "Draconian" rules, he says England cannot hope to emulate teams like the all-conquering New Zealand rugby side if their off-pitch behaviour is counter-productive.
|
| Religious leaders urge Australia to ramp up fight against modern slavery Posted: 01 Dec 2016 02:42 PM PST By Umberto Bacchi LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A group of prominent religious leaders urged Australia on Thursday to introduce laws to ensure forced labor is not used to produce goods sold in the country, saying ending slavery needed to be a national priority. In a letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, 18 faith leaders said Australia should follow Britain's lead in getting companies to disclose steps they have taken to clean up their supply chains under its Modern Slavery Act, passed last year. "Every person deserves to live a life of freedom," Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier said in the letter signed by leaders of the Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish faiths. |
| French president rules out 2017 run to help boost Socialists Posted: 01 Dec 2016 02:39 PM PST  PARIS (AP) — France's President Francois Hollande announced in a surprise televised address Thursday that he would not seek a second term in next year's presidential election, acknowledging that his personal unpopularity might cost his Socialist party the Elysee.
|
