| U.S. spy chief 'resolute' on Russia cyber attack, differs with Trump Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:10 PM PST  By Patricia Zengerle and Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday he was "even more resolute" in his belief that Russia staged cyber attacks on Democrats during the 2016 election campaign, rebuking persistent skepticism from Republican President-elect Donald Trump about whether Moscow was involved. James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said he had a very high level of confidence that Russia hacked Democratic Party and campaign staff email, and disseminated propaganda and fake news aimed at the Nov. 8 election.
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| U.S. intercepts show Russian officials celebrating Trump win: Washington Post Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:54 PM PST  Senior Russian officials celebrated Donald Trump's election victory as a geopolitical win for Moscow, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing U.S. officials who said intercepted communications showed the Russians congratulating themselves on the outcome. The ebullient reaction among high-ranking Russian officials - including some who U.S. officials believe had knowledge of the country's cyber campaign to interfere in the U.S. election - contributed to the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Moscow's efforts were aimed at least in part at helping Trump win the White House, the Post reported.
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| Nuclear, missile tests show 'qualitative' improvement in North Korea capabilities: U.S. Posted: 05 Jan 2017 05:06 PM PST  By David Brunnstrom and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday North Korea had demonstrated a "qualitative" improvement in its nuclear and missile capabilities after an unprecedented level of tests last year, showing the needed to sustain pressure on Pyongyang to bring it back to disarmament negotiations. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a joint news conference after a meeting with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts that North Korea had conducted 24 missile tests in the past year, as well as two nuclear tests, and learned from each one. "With every passing day the threat does get more acute," Blinken said, and referred to comments by North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, on Sunday that his country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) of a kind that could someday hit the United States.
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| Syrian army, allies press assault to secure capital's water supply Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:58 PM PST By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - The Syrian army and its allies pressed ahead on Friday with a two-week-long offensive to seize a strategic valley where a key spring provides supplies to four million people in the capital, Damascus, residents and rebels said. Aerial bombing and shelling from the army as well as Hezbollah fighters stationed in the mountains that overlook the valley on the northwestern edge of the capital had intensified in the last forty-eight hours, they said. The Syrian army, aided by Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi'ite group, has so far been unsuccessful in making any significant advance in the valley since they launched the drive to capture the strategic area and accused rebels of polluting the springs with diesel. |
| Exclusive: U.S. plans to name nuclear reactors using potentially flawed Areva parts Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:47 PM PST  By Timothy Gardner and Scott DiSavino WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission told French nuclear power company Areva SA it will publish as early as next week the names of U.S. reactors that contain components from its Le Creusot forge that is suspected of falsifying documents despite the company's claim that the information is proprietary. The written notice, dated Dec. 30 and seen by Reuters on Thursday, underscores rising tension between the U.S. nuclear regulatory body and Areva after French authorities opened an investigation last month into decades of alleged forgery relating to the quality of parts produced at the forge and used in power plants around the world. The NRC has investigated whether the suspected falsification of documents poses any risks for U.S. nuclear plants, but has said it has found that the plants are safe.
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| South Korea minister says China indirectly retaliating against THAAD Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:06 PM PST  China is suspected to be taking indirect action against South Korea's decision last year to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system, South Korea's finance minister said. China worries that the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system's powerful radar can penetrate its territory and it has objected to the deployment. South Korea and the United States say the missile system is aimed solely at countering any threat from North Korea.
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| Toyota stock dip after Trump tweet on planned Mexico plant Posted: 05 Jan 2017 05:28 PM PST  TOKYO (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. stock fell 2 percent in early Friday morning trading after President-elect Donald Trump said on Twitter that the Japanese automaker faces a "big border tax" if it goes ahead with plans on a new Mexico plant.
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| Top Asian News 1:27 a.m. GMT Posted: 05 Jan 2017 05:27 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is warning about travel to Bangladesh and tightening restrictions on family members accompanying U.S. government officials posted in the South Asian country. The State Department says that "terrorist groups" there pose a continuing threat. It announced Thursday that only employed adult family members of U.S. government personnel can remain in Dhaka. The traditionally moderate Muslim nation has seen a wave of extremist violence since 2015. An attack in July last year on a Dhaka restaurant popular with foreigners killed 20 hostages, including one American. The department says the Islamic State group threatened in October to target tourists, diplomats, garment buyers, missionaries and sports teams. |
| Samsung Electronics posts $7.8 bn Q4 profit estimate Posted: 05 Jan 2017 05:13 PM PST  Samsung Electronics said Friday it expects profits to soar by nearly 50 percent in the December quarter, as strong memory chip prices push earnings to their highest point in three years despite a smartphone recall fiasco. The world's largest memory chip maker estimated its operating profit in the October-December period at 9.2 trillion won ($7.8 billion), up 49.8 percent from a year earlier. Brisk sales of memory chips and smartphone screens had been expected to boost the company's bottom line but the outcome exceeded analyst expectations of a fourth-quarter profit of some 8.4 trillion won.
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| Ex-Haiti rebel leader wanted in US arrested during talk show Posted: 05 Jan 2017 05:06 PM PST  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A former rebel leader who is wanted on U.S. drug charges, and was recently elected to the Haitian Senate, was arrested Thursday as he appeared on a live radio talk show.
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| Dairy official says he hasn't seen human trafficking lawsuit Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:56 PM PST BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The manager of an Idaho dairy named in a human trafficking lawsuit declined to comment on the allegations Thursday, saying they hadn't yet been notified of the legal action. |
| Denis Guryanov lifts Russia past Sweden in OT Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:37 PM PST  MONTREAL (AP) — Denis Guryanov scored at 33 seconds of overtime to give Russia a 2-1 victory over Sweden on Thursday in the world junior hockey bronze-medal game.
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| Cuba signs first exports to US in half a century Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:36 PM PST  Two firms signed a deal Thursday for the first commercial exports in half a century from Cuba to the United States, a new step in the countries' historic rapprochement. Cuban company CubaExport signed an agreement to sell charcoal to US firm Coabana Trading for $420 a tonne, the communist island's state newspaper Granma said. Although a nearly 55-year US trade embargo on Cuba remains in place, the exports are authorized under exceptional measures approved by outgoing US President Barack Obama.
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| Mexico gas protests, looting leave 2 dead, 600 arrested Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:28 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Anger over gasoline prices hikes in Mexico fueled more protests and looting Thursday, and officials said the unrest had resulted in the death of a policeman and a bystander, the ransacking of 300 stores and arrests of over 600 people.
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| Canada not afraid of Trump-induced US investor flight Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:27 PM PST  Canada's international trade minister said Thursday that pressure by US President-elect Donald Trump would not keep American firms from investing in Canada or prompt them to withdraw any investments already made. "The fact that Canada is now one of the countries in the world that supports an open society and open trade is a good reason to invest in Canada," Chrystia Freeland told a press conference. "US businesses that have already made investments in Canada understand the intelligence and the quality of Canadian workers," she added.
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| Riyad Mahrez named African Footballer of the Year Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:26 PM PST  Abuja (AFP) - Algeria forward Riyad Mahrez was Thursday voted African Footballer of the Year after he inspired Leicester City to the English Premier League title last season.
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| Renshaw out of third test with concussion Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:17 PM PST  SYDNEY (AP) — Australia's Matt Renshaw has been ruled out for the remainder of the third test against Pakistan due to concussion after being hit on the helmet twice in three days at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
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| 9-man Athletic beats Barcelona 2-1 in Copa del Rey Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:03 PM PST  BILBAO, Spain (AP) — Barcelona's two-year reign of the Copa del Rey was in jeopardy after it lost to a nine-man Athletic Bilbao 2-1 at a packed San Mames Stadium on Thursday.
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| Al-Qaeda chief denounces Islamic State 'liars' Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:59 PM PST  Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has denounced what he said was a dishonest propaganda campaign by rival jihadist group the Islamic State against his organization, in an audio message released Thursday. In the message found and translated by US-based watchdog the SITE Intelligence Group, the Egyptian extremist accuses IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of slandering his group. Al-Qaeda, founded by the late Osama Bin Laden, is locked in a battle with the so-called Islamic State -- which sprang from its Iraqi faction -- for the leadership of a global jihad.
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| Chad shuts border with Libya, deploys troops amid security concerns Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:58 PM PST N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad, a key ally of the West in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa, said on Thursday it has closed its long border with Libya and will deploy troops to the area in an effort to prevent the influx of militant fighters fleeing conflict in its war-torn northern neighbor. Libya has slid into lawlessness since the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. Although Islamic State has been ousted from its former stronghold of Sirte, the country's U.N.-backed government has largely failed to retain control. |
| Concussed Aussie opener Renshaw out of Sydney Test Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:53 PM PST  Australia opener Matthew Renshaw has been withdrawn from the third Test against Pakistan in Sydney after suffering concussion, team officials said on Friday. "Matthew Renshaw was struck on the helmet fielding close-in on Thursday afternoon and came off complaining of a headache," team doctor Peter Brukner said in a statement. "He rested in the dressing room and then, when we returned to the hotel, we performed concussion tests and his cognitive, balance, co-ordination and reaction times were all within normal limits.
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| Four Yemeni detainees transferred from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:47 PM PST  By Katie Paul and Matt Spetalnick RIYADH/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon sent four Yemeni detainees from the Guantanamo Bay military prison to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, launching President Barack Obama's final flurry of prisoner transfers despite Donald Trump's demand for a freeze. It was the first phase of Obama's plan to move as many as 19 prisoners to four countries - Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and possibly Italy - to shrink Guantanamo's inmate population as much as possible before the Republican president-elect is sworn in on Jan. 20.
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| Nigeria finds Chibok girl kidnapped by Boko Haram, with baby Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:44 PM PST  MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Soldiers interrogating captured Boko Haram suspects have found one of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the insurgents nearly three years ago, along with her baby, Nigeria's military said Thursday.
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| Former Haitian coup leader arrested after Senate seat win: source Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:33 PM PST PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A Haitian politician and former coup leader wanted for alleged drug trafficking and money laundering in the United States was arrested on Thursday, a police source said, days before he was slated to take up a Senate seat. Guy Philippe, who was elected senator from the southwestern Grand Anse region in a second-round election on Nov. 20, was arrested after a radio interview in Petionville, near the capital, Port-au-Prince. Philippe, who led a coup that drove Jean-Bertrand Aristide from the presidency in 2004, was suspected in 2015 of involvement in an attack on a police headquarters in the southern city of Les Cayes in which at least six people were killed. |
| Olympic ski champion Tina Maze to reconsider retirement Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:32 PM PST  ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — For all the fuss in Tina Maze's home country about her farewell ski race on Saturday, it might not be her last race after all.
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| Argentine wildfires devastate pampas Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:29 PM PST  Firefighters in Argentina said Thursday they were bringing under control three wildfires that have devastated nearly a million hectares (2.5 million acres) of the country's famous pampas, or plains. Driven by strong winds, high summer temperatures and drought, the fires sent huge swathes of farm and pasture land up in smoke in the central provinces of La Pampa and Buenos Aires, two of agricultural powerhouse Argentina's most productive regions. Provincial fire management coordinator Marcelo Mosiejchuk reported "major difficulties" in fighting the fires.
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| Chatty and joking, elite North Korean defector becomes media star in South Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:26 PM PST  By James Pearson SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's newest celebrity took an unusual route to the nation's TV screens - years spent working his way up through the ranks of North Korea's diplomatic corps, followed by months secluded in the custody of the rival South's spy agency. Since his release Thae Yong Ho, the former North Korean deputy ambassador to London, has spent the first week of the new year speaking on South Korean variety shows, joking with fellow defectors and espousing South Korea's line that the North Korean government he once defended is unstable and doomed to fail. In a further propaganda coup for Seoul, the gregarious Thae, newly granted South Korean citizenship following his high-profile August defection, is embracing life in the capitalist South as a public figure.
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| APNewsBreak: Trump may pursue border wall without new bill Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:15 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump's transition team are exploring whether they can make good on Trump's promise of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border without passing a new bill on the topic, officials said Thursday.
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| US spy chiefs stand firm on Russia findings Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:14 PM PST  US spy chiefs insisted Thursday they have strong evidence that Russia mounted an unprecedented bid to disrupt the American election, standing firm in the face of Donald Trump's refusal to accept their conclusions. One day before the heads of four top intelligence bodies brief the president-elect on their assessment of Russian meddling in last year's race, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate hearing he had "very high" confidence in their findings. "The Russians have a long history of interfering in elections, theirs and other people's," he told the Armed Services Committee.
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| Turkey: Cease-fire violations in Syria are obstacle to talks Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:55 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Turkey's foreign minister says the main obstacle to holding peace negotiations on Syria later this month is the cease-fire violations and he is calling on the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on those refusing to stop the violence.
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| Cuba dissidents say arbitrary arrests soared in 2016 Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:50 PM PST  Havana (AFP) - Cuban opposition activists said Thursday that the number of arbitrary arrests of dissidents on the communist island soared to nearly 10,000 last year.
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| UN removes 4 envoys from Colombia for partying with rebels Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:44 PM PST BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The United Nations removed four officials from its peacekeeping mission in Colombia following an uproar over a video showing observers dancing with leftist rebels they're supposed to be monitoring. |
| Volunteers, tequila makers lift imperiled bat off the mat, U.S. says Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:28 PM PST  An unusual alliance of volunteer researchers and tequila makers have helped rescue a crucial American Southwest pollinator known as the lesser long-nosed bat from the brink of extinction, according to U.S. wildlife managers who want the bat removed from the endangered and threatened species list. The bat, known for feeding on nectar and playing a key role in the pollination of such plants as agaves in Mexico, was protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1988, when its population had dwindled to just 1,000 at 14 known roosts, government biologists said. Habitat destruction threatened the bat with extinction, U.S. wildlife managers said.
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| US sends 4 held at Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia in final push Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:24 PM PST  MIAMI (AP) — The Pentagon said Thursday that four Guantanamo prisoners have been released and sent to Saudi Arabia, part of a final push by President Barack Obama to reduce the population at the detention center in the final weeks of his administration.
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| US stocks mostly slip as banks fall and retailers plunge Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:22 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped Thursday as interest rates dropped and banks took sharp losses. Department stores tumbled as Macy's and Kohl's plunged following weak holiday-season reports that led the chains to cut their profit forecasts.
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| No doubt Russia interfered in election, US intel chief says Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:21 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Brushing aside Donald Trump's dismissiveness, the nation's intelligence chief insisted Thursday that U.S. agencies are more confident than ever that Russia interfered in America's recent presidential election. And he called the former Cold War foe an "existential threat" to the nation.
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| Recalling Syria 'red line,' Kerry says US didn't back down Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:21 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Touting his four years as secretary of state, John Kerry on Thursday attempted to explain one of the most contentious moments in American diplomacy during his tenure: President Barack Obama's failure to enforce his "red line" warning to Syria about using chemical weapons.
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| Mexican police officer killed amid gas price protests Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:13 PM PST  Mexicans held more protests against a gasoline price increase on Thursday after a day of looting left a police officer dead, some 250 stores ransacked and over 530 people arrested. The officer died on Wednesday after he was hit by a car while preventing a theft at a service station, the city police department said. Mexicans have blocked highways and service stations since the government implemented a 20.1 percent increase in premium gasoline prices on January 1.
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