Saturday, December 29, 2012

Indian gang rape victim dies; New Delhi braces for protests

Indian gang rape victim dies; New Delhi braces for protests

Indian gang rape victim dies; New Delhi braces for protests

Posted: 29 Dec 2012 12:23 AM PST

A member of the Rapid Action Force pulls a barricade to close a road leading to the India Gate in New DelhiNEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A woman whose gang rape sparked protests and a national debate about violence against women in India died of her injuries on Saturday, prompting a security lockdown in New Delhi and an acknowledgement from India's prime minister that social change is needed. Bracing for a new wave of protests, Indian authorities deployed thousands of policemen, closed 10 metro stations and banned vehicles from some main roads in the heart of New Delhi, where demonstrators have converged since the attack to demand improved women's rights. ...

Analysis: U.N. confronts failure of diplomacy in Syria

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 04:42 PM PST

A general view of buildings, damaged by what activists said were missiles fired by a Syrian Air Force fighter jet of forces loyal to Syrian President al-Assad, at ZamalkaUNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Attempts by the United Nations to end the bloody 21-month-old Syrian conflict through diplomacy have been a resounding failure and there is little reason to expect a quick change given the Russian-U.S. rift on Syria. After a year of intensive diplomatic efforts by the world body, U.N.-Arab League peace mediator Lakhdar Brahimi of Algeria has made no more progress than his predecessor, former U.N. ...

Alleged militants detained in Djibouti charged by U.S. court

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 03:00 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a sign of evolving U.S. legal tactics in counter-terrorism operations, two Swedish citizens and a former British citizen detained in Africa in August have been charged in a U.S. court with supporting Somali-based Islamist militants. The charges were filed in Federal Court in Brooklyn, New York, even though court papers and a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office make no specific allegation that the three - all of whom are of Somali extraction - posed threats to Americans or U.S.-related targets. ...

Russian police free child hostage, kill seven militants in Dagestan

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 10:31 PM PST

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian security forces killed seven militants and freed a 6-year-old girl taken hostage in the restive Dagestan region of Russia's volatile North Caucasus on Saturday, a national anti-terrorism committee official told Interfax news agency. The incident took place in an apartment building in the provincial capital of Makhachkala, according to the Interfax report. The militants broke through a wall, entered an apartment and took the girl hostage, according to the report. ...

Egypt opposition says Islamists trying to stifle dissent

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 11:18 AM PST

Badges showing an image of Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi and the words "Yes to constitution" are displayed at a street stall outside Al Azhar mosque in old CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's opposition accused President Mohamed Mursi's Islamist allies of trying to muzzle dissent on Friday after prosecutors decided to investigate whether prominent government critics were guilty of sedition. The probe, which comes a month after Mursi replaced the chief prosecutor, further sours the political climate as the leader and his opponents face off over a new constitution that became law on Wednesday. ...

Putin signs ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian children

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 11:52 AM PST

Russia's President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a ceremony to present high-rank officer personnel at the Kremlin in MoscowMOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Friday that bans Americans from adopting Russian children and imposes other sanctions in retaliation for a new U.S. human rights law that he says is poisoning relations. Washington has called the new Russian law misguided, saying it ties the fate of children to "unrelated political considerations", and analysts say it is likely to deepen a chill in U.S.-Russia relations and harm Putin's image abroad. ...

Monti says will lead centrists in Italian vote

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 12:55 PM PST

Italy's outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti talks during a news conference in RomeROME (Reuters) - Outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Friday he would lead a centrist alliance in an election in February, ending weeks of speculation over his political future and confirming his bid for a second term. The announcement clears up some of the uncertainty hanging over election and puts Monti in a three-way contest for power with the center-left Democratic Party (PD), which is leading in the polls, and Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party. ...

Iraqi Sunnis stage big anti-government rallies

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 09:02 AM PST

Iraqi Sunni Muslims wave the old flag of Iraq during an anti-government demonstration in RamadiRAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters from Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority poured onto the streets after Friday prayers in a show of force against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, keeping up a week-long blockade of a major highway. Around 60,000 people blocked the main road through Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital, setting fire to the flag of Shi'ite Iran and shouting "out, out Iran! Baghdad stays free" and "Maliki you coward, don't take your advice from Iran". ...

Residents flee Bangui as rebels pause for talks

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 08:51 AM PST

A soldier smiles as women march to protest against the conflict in their country in the streets of BanguiBANGUI (Reuters) - Residents of Central African Republic's riverside capital Bangui fled in overloaded cars and boats on Friday or stockpiled food and water as rebel forces paused at the city gates for ceasefire talks. An insurgency has swept across much of the poverty-stricken but resource-rich former French colony since December 10, posing the biggest threat yet to President Francois Bozize's nearly 10 years in power and threatening a humanitarian crisis. ...

Syria opposition leader rejects Moscow invitation

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 06:25 AM PST

Demonstrators hold a placard during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, after Friday prayers in Kafranbel near IdlibALEPPO PROVINCE, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's opposition leader has rejected an invitation from Russia for peace talks, dealing another blow to international hopes that diplomacy can be resurrected to end a 21-month civil war. Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's main international protector, said on Friday it had sent an invitation for a visit to Moaz Alkhatib, whose six-week-old National Coalition opposition group has been recognized by most Western and Arab states as the legitimate voice of the Syrian people. ...

Putin signs anti-US adoptions bill

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 09:20 AM PST

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the final Cabinet meeting of the year in the government headquarters in Moscow, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Government Press Service)MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a law banning Americans from adopting Russian children, abruptly terminating the prospects for more than 50 youngsters preparing to join new families and sparking critics to liken him to King Herod.

Indian gang-rape victim dies in Singapore hospital

Posted: 29 Dec 2012 12:39 AM PST

A police hearse leaves Mount Elizabeth Hospital on Saturday Dec. 29, 2012 in Singapore. A young Indian woman who was gang-raped and severely beaten on a bus in New Delhi died Saturday at the hospital, after her horrific ordeal galvanized Indians to demand greater protection from sexual violence that impacts thousands of women daily, in homes, streets and public transport, but which often goes unreported. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)NEW DELHI (AP) — Shocked Indians on Saturday were mourning the death of a woman who was gang-raped and beaten on a bus in New Delhi nearly two weeks ago in an ordeal that galvanized people to demand greater protection for women from sexual violence.

Paintings outrage Islamic hard-liners in Pakistan

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 11:31 AM PST

In this photo taken on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2012, Pakistani students carve wooden statues in the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan. A series of provocative paintings of Muslim clerics in scenes suggesting homosexuality has sparked a moral and legal crisis at Pakistan's leading arts college after extremists threatened violence, declaring that the works insult Islam.(AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's leading arts college has pushed boundaries before in this conservative nation. But when a series of paintings depicting Muslim clerics in scenes with strong homosexual overtones sparked an uproar and threats of violence by Islamic extremists, it was too much.

Rebels besiege airports in northern Syria

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 11:47 AM PST

In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke rises from buildings from heavy shelling in Homs, Syria, on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels stepped up their siege of a government helicopter base and clashed with soldiers near Aleppo's international airport on Friday, part of an effort to chip away at the air power that poses the biggest challenge to their advances against the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Italy's Monti: I'm heading new electoral coalition

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 01:57 PM PST

Italian Premier Mario Monti speaks during a press conference at the Italian Senate in Rome, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. Monti has announced he is heading a new campaign coalition made of up centrists, businessmen and pro-Vatican forces, paving the way for his possible return to office if it wins enough seats in February parliamentary elections. (AP Photo/Roberto Monaldo, Lapresse)ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Monti announced Friday he is heading a new campaign coalition made of up centrists, business leaders and pro-Vatican forces who back his "ethical" vision of politics, aiming for a second mandate in office if his fledging reform movement wins big in parliamentary elections.

Russia reaches out to Syrian coalition

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 02:35 AM PST

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, welcomes his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Kamel Amr prior to a meeting in Moscow on Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. (AP photo)MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's foreign minister says Moscow has proposed talks with the main Syrian opposition coalition, despite Russia's previous criticism of Western countries for recognizing the group.

Greek ex-finance minister caught up in scandal

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 11:07 AM PST

FILE - In this July 5, 2010 file photo, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou speaks during a news conference in Athens. Three relatives of a Greek former Cabinet minister are missing from a list of Greeks with Swiss bank accounts that authorities are using to investigate possible tax evasion, court officials said Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. The ex-minister was not formally identified, but Greek media widely reported it to be former finance minister George Papaconstantinou, who had originally obtained the list from France in 2010. According to the leaks, two of his cousins and their husbands were involved in the accounts. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's former finance minister is at the center of an escalating political scandal after three of his relatives were allegedly found missing from a list of Greeks with Swiss banks accounts that authorities are using to investigate possible tax evasion.

C. African Republic neighbors to send help

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 04:06 PM PST

In this frame grab taken from APTN footage from Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, President Francois Bozize addresses crowds, in Bangui, Central African Republic. The president of Central African Republic on Thursday urgently called on France and other foreign powers to help his government fend off rebels who are quickly seizing territory and approaching the capital Bangui. French officials, however, declined to offer any military assistance in response to the plea from Francois Bozize. (AP Photo/APTN)BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Central African Republic's neighbors agreed on Friday to dispatch a contingent of soldiers to intervene in the troubled country, where a coalition of rebel groups is seeking to overthrow the president of nearly a decade.

Venezuelans obsess: Will Chavez live or die?

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 12:35 PM PST

A snapshot of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is surrounded by a trio of religious prayer cards and a sign that reads in Spanish; "Merry Christmas" on a red background hanging at a state-run market in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. The obsessive, circular conversations about Chavez's health dominate family dinners, plaza chit-chats and social media sites in this country on edge since its larger-than-life leader went to Cuba for emergency cancer surgery more than two weeks ago. The man whose booming voice once dominated the airwaves for hours at a time has not been seen or heard from since. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — He's getting better. He's getting worse. He's already dead. The whole thing is a conspiracy and he was never sick in the first place.

New Constitution divides Egypt as economy falters

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 10:26 AM PST

New constitutions are usually greeted with great fanfare. They're assumed to carry both the promise of a fresh start and signal that a chaotic transition has come to an end.

US embassy evacuated as rebels surge in Cental African Republic

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 06:47 AM PST

Rebels are closing in on the capital of the impoverished Central African Republic, threatening to topple the weak government and push yet another African nation into civil war, failure, or outright collapse, The Associated Press and other news outlets are reporting.

Putin signs antiadoption law, throwing pending adoptions into confusion

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 06:42 AM PST

President Vladimir Putin signed the Dima Yakovlev Act into law Friday, banning all adoptions of Russian orphans by US citizens as of Jan. 1 and throwing dozens of currently ongoing adoptions into confusion.
Posted by Harshad at 1:35 AM

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