Monday, December 10, 2012

Analysis: Franco-German chill reshuffles cards in Europe

Analysis: Franco-German chill reshuffles cards in Europe

Analysis: Franco-German chill reshuffles cards in Europe

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:58 PM PST

France's President Hollande walks past Germany's Chancellor Merkel during European Union leaders summit in BrusselsPARIS (Reuters) - A chill has settled over the Rhine seven months after the election of Socialist French President Francois Hollande, reshuffling the cards in Europe's perpetual power game. The cooling of traditionally close Franco-German relations was partly an intentional step by Hollande to demonstrate that he is not in conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's pocket but wants to change the policy direction of the European Union. It also reflects a fraught process of rebalancing power to accommodate Germany's greater political heft and economic clout. ...

North Korea extends rocket launch window due to "technical problems"

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:32 AM PST

File photo of a soldier in front of a rocket sitting on a launch pad at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site, northwest of PyongyangSEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has extended the window for a widely condemned long-range rocket launch by a week after discovering a "technical deficiency", the isolated state's news agency said on Monday. The launch, viewed by the United States, Japan and South Korea as a test for developing a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, had been scheduled for December 10-22 to coincide with the first anniversary of the death of former North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il. ...

Italian political crisis drives up borrowing costs

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:49 AM PST

Italy's Prime Minister Monti gestures at the World Policy Conference in CannesROME/MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's imminent resignation drove up the country's borrowing costs on Monday, as markets took fright at the prospect of a return to an old-style Italian political crisis. The spread between Italian BTPs and German Bunds widened to 349 basis points from 325 late on Friday and BTP future shed more than a point on concern over Monti's departure. On Saturday, the 69-year-old former European commissioner unexpectedly struck back against Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party which withdrew support from his government last week. ...

EU receives Nobel for building "continent of peace"

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:46 PM PST

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman van Rompuy and European Parliament President Martin Schulz address a news conference in OsloOSLO (Reuters) - The European Union will receive the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo on Monday, honored by the Norwegian committee for bringing decades of peace and democracy to Europe after the horrors and division of two world wars. Looking beyond the current, deep malaise Europe finds itself in with slumping growth, soaring unemployment and countries unable to pay their debts, the Nobel committee has instead focused on what the EU has done over the past 60 years to reconcile the disparate, warring corners of the 'old continent'. ...

Bomb kills provincial Afghan police chief

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:24 AM PST

Afghan policeman inspects the interior of a car belonging to the chief of police of Nimroz province, that was hit by a roadside bomb, in Herat provinceHERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed the police chief of Afghanistan's western Nimroz province on Monday, a police official said. General Mohammad Musa Rasoli's vehicle was struck by the bomb as he was heading to work, the official said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Taliban insurgents have targeted provincial officials in the past. The Afghan government is scrambling to improve security before NATO troops withdraw by the end of 2014. Some Afghans fear another civil war may erupt after the pullout. ...

Prominent Afghan female official shot dead

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:21 AM PST

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Unknown gunmen shot dead a senior female government worker on Monday, officials in eastern Afghanistan said, five months after her predecessor was killed in a bomb attack. Violence against women appears to be on the rise in Afghanistan, which activists and some lawmakers blame on what they say is waning interest in women's rights on the part of President Hamid Karzai's government, claims he denies. ...

Eight killed as Taliban suicide bombers attack Pakistan police station

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:23 AM PST

Security forces stand at the site of a suicide bomb blast in BannuDERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Four Taliban suicide bombers attacked a police station in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing at least eight police and local residents, security officials said. The Pakistan Taliban took responsibility for the attack near Bannu in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, close to the border with Afghanistan, a hotbed of insurgency where attacks on security forces are common. "Three suicide bombers blew themselves up, while one was shot by police before he could blow himself up," an intelligence source said. ...

Philippines, leftist rebels declare truces in disaster areas

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:21 PM PST

A Filipino small-scale miner carries his sand-sifting equipment used in gold mining on a river bed in the town of Mawab, Compostela ValleyDAVAO CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - The Philippine government and Maoist rebels have declared truces in two southern provinces devastated by a typhoon last week as the army concentrates on relief and many rebels recover from the disaster, a commander said on Monday. Typhoon Bopha killed 647 people and caused crop damage worth 8.5 billion pesos ($210 million). The most intense storm to hit the Philippines this year wiped out about 90 percent of three coastal towns in Davao Oriental province and buried an entire town in neighboring Compostela Valley province under mud. ...

Romania president weighs options for PM after vote

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:39 AM PST

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's President Traian Basescu weighed his options for prime minister on Monday but is expected to re-appoint his leftist opponent Victor Ponta rather than risk a fresh political standoff by appointing someone other than the current premier. Ponta's Social Liberal Union (USL) won 58-60 percent of votes Sunday's parliamentary elections, official results showed. "President Basescu could try to deny Mr. Ponta a second term, but USL's overwhelming victory leaves little scope for alternative scenarios," said UniCredit analyst Dan Bucsa. ...

U.S. and Russia still back Syria settlement: UN envoy

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 08:57 PM PST

Residents walk near a tank in the town of Ras al-Ain, near the province of HasakaBEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. and Russian officials have given their commitment to a political solution for the deepening Syrian conflict, a United Nations envoy said on Sunday, but Moscow dismissed speculation it was preparing for President Bashar al-Assad's exit. With rebels now fighting on the doorsteps of Damascus, Assad's forces kept up their now daily artillery strikes and air raids on eastern suburbs as well as some rebel-held districts on the capital's outskirts. U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met the U.S. ...

Singer feared dead in Mexican plane crash

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:57 PM PST

In this picture taken March 8, 2012, Mexican-American singer and reality TV star Jenni Rivera poses during an interview in Los Angeles. The wreckage of a small plane believed to be carrying Mexican-American music superstar Jenni Rivera was found in northern Mexico on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, and there are no apparent survivors, authorities said. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)Mexico's music world mourned Jenni Rivera, the U.S.-born singer presumed killed in a plane crash whose soulful voice and openness about her personal troubles had made her a Mexican-American superstar.

AP Exclusive: Georgia details nuke investigations

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:05 AM PST

This undated photo provided by the Georgia Interior Ministry shows part of a seizure of radioactive substances including iridium-192 and europium-152. Police in Kutaisi, Georgia arrested two people involved in the smuggling in February 2011. The investigation led police to track a third man, Soslan Oniani, who would be arrested in April 2012 trying to sell radioactive material to two Turkish men. Despite years of effort and hundreds of millions of dollars spent in the fight against the illicit sale of nuclear contraband, the black market remains active in the countries around the former Soviet Union. The radioactive materials, mostly left over from the Cold War, include nuclear bomb-grade uranium and plutonium, and dirty-bomb isotopes like cesium and iridium. (AP Photo/Georgia Interior Ministry)On the gritty side of this casino resort town near the Turkish border, three men in a hotel suite gathered in secret to talk about a deal for radioactive material.

NKorea extending rocket launch period to Dec. 29

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:01 AM PST

Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force members walk by a ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor deployed to prepare for North Korea's planned launch of a long-range rocket at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. North Korea held off launching a long-range rocket Monday, the first day of a 13-day window during a frigid, snowy stretch of winter weather, a day after announcing it may delay the controversial liftoff. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, FRANCE, HONG KONG, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREANorth Korea on Monday extended the launch period for a controversial long-range rocket by another week until Dec. 29, citing technical problems.

Australian DJs apologize for royal hoax call

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:44 AM PST

This undated hand out photo provided by the Metropolitan Police shows Jacintha Saldanha. British police say that a nurse who was found dead days after she took a hoax call about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was originally from India. Scotland Yard said Saturday that 46-year-old Jacintha Saldanha, who was found dead on Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 had lived in Bristol in southwestern England for nine years. Saldanha worked at the London hospital where Prince William's wife, Kate, was being treated for acute morning sickness. The nurse was duped by a prank call performed by two Australian DJs, who pretended to be Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles to ask about Kate's condition. (AP Photo/Metropolitan PoliceThe Australian radio hosts behind a hoax phone call to the U.K. hospital where the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was staying said through tears on Monday that they were shattered upon learning that the nurse who was duped by their prank had died.

UK police unable to identify man who fell from sky

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:54 PM PST

This E-FIT image (Electronic Facial Identification Technique) provided by the Metropolitan Police on Dec. 7, 2012 show a computer-based face of a man whom British police are trying to identify after his body was found near London's Heathrow Airport in September. Police believe he was from Africa, probably from Angola, but they don't know his identity, or how to notify his next of kin. The apparent stowaway had no identification papers - just some currency from Angola, leading police to surmise that he was from that African nation, especially as inquiries showed that a plane from Angola was beginning its descent into Heathrow at about that time. (AP Photo/Metropolitan Police)Police believe he was from Africa, probably from Angola, but they don't know his identity, or how to notify his next of kin.

Attacks kill Afghan police chief, official

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:35 AM PST

An Afghan provincial police chief and an official in charge of women's affairs were killed in separate attacks on Monday — the latest victims of a campaign of targeted killings against government officials.

Islamist-leaning draft constitution divides Egypt

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 01:04 PM PST

Egyptian men stand near Arabic writing on a wall in Arabic that reads, "down with the leader's rule, no to the Muslim Brotherhood," in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. Egypt's liberal opposition has called for more protests on Sunday after the president made concessions overnight that fell short of their demands to rescind a draft constitution going to a referendum on Dec. 15. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)President Mohammed Morsi is unlikely to worry if Egypt's Islamist-leaning draft constitution passes by only a small margin in a Dec. 15 referendum, since he and his backers tout his 51 percent election victory in June as a "popular mandate" that is beyond any challenge.

McAfee wants to return to US, 'normal life'

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:37 PM PST

FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2012, file photo, software company founder John McAfee listens to a question during an interview at a local restaurant in Guatemala City. McAfee said Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, a live-stream Internet broadcast from the Guatemalan detention center where he is fighting a government order that he be returned to Belize, that he wants to return to the United States and "settle down to whatever normal life" he can. Police in neighboring Belize want to question McAfee in the fatal shooting of a U.S. expatriate who lived near his home on a Belizean island in November. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)Software company founder John McAfee said Sunday he wants to return to the United States and "settle down to whatever normal life" he can.

Taliban attack Pakistan police station, kill 6

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:05 PM PST

Taliban militants armed with a rocket, hand grenades and automatic weapons attacked a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing six people, police said.

Gov't: Building felled by NZ quake poorly built

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:33 PM PST

FILE -In this Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011 file photo, search and rescue personnel work at the destroyed CTV building in Christchurch, New Zealand two days after the city was hit by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, killing 115 people. A final release from the government-ordered commission that spent months investigating the buildings damaged in the quake said Monday, Dec. 10, 2012 that the CTV building was made of weak columns and concrete and did not meet standards when it was built in 1986. The building's designer contested those findings. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)A six-story office building that collapsed and killed 115 people in New Zealand's devastating earthquake last year was poorly designed by an inexperienced engineer, inadequately constructed and should never have been issued a building permit, a government report said Monday.

Six days of riots erupt in the 'New Northern Ireland'

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:00 AM PST

Six nights of riots, death threats issued against politicians, and a constituency office set alight. Welcome to the "New Northern Ireland."

As Syria's rebels close in, Assad has three options

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 08:07 AM PST

The magnificent views across Damascus from the presidential palace on Mount Qassioun are unlikely to provide much comfort these days for Bashar al-Assad, Syria's beleaguered head of state.

Egypt's Morsi backs off decree, but fails to assuage protesters

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 07:44 AM PST

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi last night rescinded his recent decision removing checks on his power and making the constitution-writing process immune from judicial review, a move that brought thousands of people into the street against him across Egypt.

New law puts spotlight on India child abuse

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 06:00 AM PST

The abuse started when Jyoti was 9-years-old. Her sister's husband would take her on car rides promising ice cream. But the trips always ended with him fondling her, demanding kisses, and more. By the time she was 18, he was abusing her weekly and threatened to kidnap her if she told anyone.
Posted by Harshad at 1:16 AM

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