Israel says will stick with settlement plan despite condemnation

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• Israel says will stick with settlement plan despite condemnation
• Iran captures U.S. drone in its airspace: media
• Bomb explodes at offices of Greek ultra-right party, no casualties
• Typhoon Bopha slams Philippines south, destroys homes, one dead
• Vietnam steps up sea patrols as tensions with China rise
• Blind China dissident says jailed nephew acted in self-defense
• Apparatchiks to return to Russian state firms' boards-paper
• Are women leaders less corrupt? No, but they shake things up
• Japan candidates hit streets in first national vote since Fukushima disaster
• Iran claims capture of another US drone
• Egyptian papers suspend publication in protest
• Israel could face Palestinian war crimes charges
• AP IMPACT: An insider attack: Trust cost 2 lives
• Spain's unemployed inching up to 5 million
• US weighing military options if Syria uses WMD
• Will and Kate expecting a baby, UK palace confirms
• Strong typhoon pounds Philippines; 41K leave homes
• Japan campaign opens with focus on economy, nukes
• Police raid Japan tunnel operator after collapse
• Boy or girl, Kate's royal offspring likely to reign - eventually
• The pope joins the twitterverse as @pontifex
• Egypt's constitution hangs in balance as judges face off against Morsi
• Rebel gains in Syria embolden Lebanese Sunnis
• Troubling uptick in violence in São Paulo's slums
• Has Israel's settlement expansion crossed a 'red line'?
• China's leadership change is disturbing the corridors of power

Israel says will stick with settlement plan despite condemnation Posted: 03 Dec 2012 09:29 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel rejected concerted criticism from the United States and Europe on Monday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlement building after the United Nations' de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood. Washington urged Israel to reconsider its plan to erect 3,000 more homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying the move hindered peace efforts with the Palestinians. Britain, France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark summoned the Israeli ambassadors in their capitals to give similar messages. ...

Iran captures U.S. drone in its airspace: media Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:11 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran captured a U.S. drone that was flying in the country's airspace, its media reported on Tuesday. The ScanEagle drone was gathering information over Gulf waters and had entered Iranian airspace when it was captured by the naval unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the Fars news agency reported, without giving details. The agency said the drone was captured sometime "in the last few days." It was not clear how it was captured. "These kinds of aircraft are normally launched from large ships," said Ali Fadavi, the IRGC's naval commander, according to Fars. ...

Bomb explodes at offices of Greek ultra-right party, no casualties Posted: 03 Dec 2012 08:24 PM PST ATHENS (Reuters) - A bomb went off at the offices of a Greek ultra-right group near Athens early on Tuesday causing damage but no casualties, a police source said. The explosion occurred at the local offices of the Golden Dawn party in the Athens suburb of Aspropyrgos. "It was a powerful blast that caused a lot of damage," said a police official who declined to be named. Riding a wave of public anger at austerity, corrupt politicians and illegal immigration, Golden Dawn has come out of nowhere to become Greece's third-biggest party, according to the latest opinion polls. ...

Typhoon Bopha slams Philippines south, destroys homes, one dead Posted: 03 Dec 2012 10:15 PM PST MANILA (Reuters) - Typhoon Bopha, the strongest tropical storm to hit the Philippines this year, slammed into a southern island on Tuesday, destroying homes, cutting power and forcing the cancellation of flights and ferry services, officials said. Bopha, with wind gusts of up to 195 kph (121 mph), made landfall at dawn, uprooting trees, tearing off roofs, and toppling power and communication lines. "There goes my house," Landring Ceballos, a fisherman in Davao Oriental province told reporters as he watched in horror as winds lifted his makeshift house and dumped it in the sea. ...

Vietnam steps up sea patrols as tensions with China rise Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:38 AM PST HANOI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Vietnam is setting up patrols to protect its fisheries in the South China Sea after a state company accused Chinese boats of sabotage and India declared itself ready to deploy naval vessels to safeguard its interests in the disputed waters. Vietnam's civilian-led patrols, backed by marine police and a border force, will be deployed from January 25 to stop foreign vessels that violate fishing laws within Vietnam's waters, Vietnam's government and state media said. ...

Blind China dissident says jailed nephew acted in self-defense Posted: 03 Dec 2012 10:52 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng said the jailing of his nephew last week was on trumped up charges which ignored clear evidence that he had acted in self-defense after men armed with sticks forced their way into his home and beat him. Chen's nephew Chen Kegui was given a three-year three-month jail term last week after being charged with using knives to fend off officials who burst into his home on April 27. It was the day after they discovered his uncle had escaped from 19 months of house arrest in eastern Shandong province and fled to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. ...

Apparatchiks to return to Russian state firms' boards-paper Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:43 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Dmitry Medvedev's cabinet plans to name officials as directors of Russian state firms, less than two years after he ordered a boardroom purge to reduce state involvement in the economy, the Kommersant daily reported on Tuesday. According to a preliminary list of board candidates, drafted by the state property agency and cited by Kommersant, more than 70 percent of all state firms will either see officials return to their boards or their number increase. ...

Are women leaders less corrupt? No, but they shake things up Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:24 PM PST WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (TrustLaw) - It is almost a cliché that getting more women into power is a good way to tackle corruption. Women, the argument goes, are less likely to take bribes or put personal gain before public good. But is it true? While many bristle at the suggestion that women are the "fairer sex," considering it simplistic and even sexist, a growing body of research hints that the ascent of women might indeed help dent corruption. A deeper look shows the connection between gender and corruption is more complex than the cliché suggests. ...

Japan candidates hit streets in first national vote since Fukushima disaster Posted: 03 Dec 2012 07:39 PM PST FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Candidates hit the streets on Tuesday at the official start of a campaign for a parliamentary election that is expected to return the opposition Liberal Democrats to power but risks furthering the policy stalemate plaguing the world's third-biggest economy. ...

Iran claims capture of another US drone Posted: 04 Dec 2012 01:05 AM PST Iran's state TV said Tuesday that the country's Revolutionary Guard has captured a U.S. drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf.

Egyptian papers suspend publication in protest Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:42 AM PST Several influential Egyptian newspapers have suspended publication to protest what many journalists see as restrictions on the freedom of expression in a draft constitution adopted by an Islamist-led panel.

Israel could face Palestinian war crimes charges Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:56 AM PST A senior Palestinian official is warning that the West Bank government will pursue war crime charges against Israel if it doesn't stop settlement construction.

AP IMPACT: An insider attack: Trust cost 2 lives Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:41 PM PST It was a sneak attack, but not by the enemy they feared.

Spain's unemployed inching up to 5 million Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:50 AM PST The number of people registered as unemployed in Spain is edging toward 5 million as the country's recession shows few signs of abating and its banks struggle to deal with a property market crash.

US weighing military options if Syria uses WMD Posted: 03 Dec 2012 06:34 PM PST The White House and its allies are weighing military options to secure Syria's chemical and biological weapons, after U.S. intelligence reports show the Syrian regime may be readying those weapons and may be desperate enough to use them, U.S. officials said Monday.

Will and Kate expecting a baby, UK palace confirms Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:55 PM PST Britain doesn't have to wait any longer: Prince William's wife, Kate, is pregnant.

Strong typhoon pounds Philippines; 41K leave homes Posted: 03 Dec 2012 08:29 PM PST The strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year was pounding southern provinces Tuesday, cutting power, suspending travel and flooding areas already vulnerable to landslides.

Japan campaign opens with focus on economy, nukes Posted: 04 Dec 2012 01:03 AM PST Leaders of Japan's major political parties kicked off campaigning Tuesday for this month's parliamentary elections in nuclear crisis-hit Fukushima prefecture, where more than 100,000 people remain displaced from their homes in the region.

Police raid Japan tunnel operator after collapse Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:32 AM PST Police investigating an expressway-tunnel ceiling collapse that killed nine people searched the offices of the tunnel operator Tuesday to see if there is any evidence that the company neglected safety.

Boy or girl, Kate's royal offspring likely to reign - eventually Posted: 03 Dec 2012 03:36 PM PST Today's announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – also known as Prince William and Princess Kate – are expecting a baby was met with a right royal hue and cry by the British press.

The pope joins the twitterverse as @pontifex Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:16 AM PST After centuries of issuing theology-heavy treatises and ponderous papal bulls, the Vatican on Monday announced that the pope was embracing the most succinct of communications – Twitter.

Egypt's constitution hangs in balance as judges face off against Morsi Posted: 03 Dec 2012 10:16 AM PST On Sunday, Egypt's highest court suspended its work in protest over perceived pressure after Islamist demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse. Later in the day, the national judges union followed up by calling on its members not to monitor the referendum to pass the Constitution into force.

Rebel gains in Syria embolden Lebanese Sunnis Posted: 03 Dec 2012 08:04 AM PST Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's increasingly tenuous hold on power is emboldening Sunnis in neighboring Lebanon to escalate their opposition to Hezbollah, the powerful militant Shiite movement and ally of Mr. Assad.

Troubling uptick in violence in São Paulo's slums Posted: 03 Dec 2012 07:20 AM PST Rodrigo Marcos Silva Vieira's mother asked his father not to go to work that night. Neighbors were warning of an informal police curfew in their poor neighborhood of Jardim Carumbé on the northern edge of São Paulo, and she thought better of defying it. "But my father said there was nothing to worry about, and Rodrigo went to help him," remembers Mr. Vieira's sister Beatriz Silva Vieira. But around 1:30 am on Nov. 6, a motorbike with two men pulled up outside the small bar where Vieira and his father worked, and the passenger indiscriminately fired more than 20 shots into the establishment. ...

Has Israel's settlement expansion crossed a 'red line'? Posted: 03 Dec 2012 06:17 AM PST Israel's plan to move forward with controversial settlements in eastern Jerusalem – which it took in apparent retaliation for the Palestinian Authority's recent, successful pursuit of recognition as a United Nations nonmember observer state – is prompting an angry response, and likely "real action," from Europe.

China's leadership change is disturbing the corridors of power Posted: 03 Dec 2012 05:34 AM PST As China-watchers worldwide debate whether the new Communist Party leaders here will be able to push through the sort of political and economic changes that almost everyone agrees the country needs, a little noticed but possibly revolutionary reform appears to already be underway.

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