Friday, June 22, 2012

Insight: Children of Mao's wrath vie for power in China

Insight: Children of Mao's wrath vie for power in China

Insight: Children of Mao's wrath vie for power in China

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:32 PM PDT

To match insight CHINA-BO/WANG LIJUNBEIJING (Reuters) - Forty five years before ambitious Chinese politician Bo Xilai fell from power accused of flirting with Cultural Revolution extremism, he stood as a teenager in front of a baying crowd that accused him of defying Mao Zedong's campaign. Bo's divisive rise and downfall has kindled debate about how the chaotic Cultural Revolution (1966-76) shaped him and his generation, which will assume power at a ruling Communist Party congress later this year. ...

Afghan police say 13 killed in Kabul hotel siege

Posted: 22 Jun 2012 12:26 AM PDT

Afghan National Army soldiers arrive at the site of an attack on the outskirts of KabulKABUL (Reuters) - A 12-hour militant siege of an exclusive lakeside hotel near the Afghan capital killed 13 people, police said on Friday, including five militants and four civilians. Kabul police chief Ayoub Salangi also said that three guards at the Spozhmai hotel, overlooking Qargha Lake, were killed, along with one policeman, during the prolonged fight to free scores of hostages. Heavily armed gunmen stormed the hotel on Thursday just before midnight. The assault underscores the potency of the Taliban even after over a decade of efforts by NATO and Afghan forces to repel them. ...

Pakistan ruling party replaces PM nominee after arrest warrant

Posted: 22 Jun 2012 12:23 AM PDT

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's ruling party on Friday nominated former water and power minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to replace the ousted prime minister, as political intrigue gripped the U.S. ally. The Pakistan People's Party had nominated the textiles minister to replace Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court this week. But an anti-narcotics court issued an arrest warrant for the textiles minister, undermining his bid, in a move analysts said may have been orchestrated by the powerful military. Parliament meets on Friday to elect a new prime minister. ...

Assange says ready for life in Ecuador

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 10:02 PM PDT

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks at a news conference in LondonCANBERRA (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Friday that he was ready for a life in Ecuador and said the country had been "quite supportive" of his bid for asylum. Assange is holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London, where he has sought asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning on sexual assault charges, and he faces arrest by British police if he leaves the embassy. In an telephone interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp. ...

Strikes on al Qaeda leave only "handful" of top targets

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:32 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly one year ago, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta predicted the strategic defeat of al Qaeda was within reach if the United States could kill or capture up to 20 leaders of the core group and its affiliates. In an interview on Thursday with Reuters, Panetta disclosed that only a "small handful" of the individuals on that original list remained on the battlefield and that Saudi Arabia - the birthplace of late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden - was reporting a drop-off in recruitment. ...

Somali piracy death toll rises as violence worsens

Posted: 22 Jun 2012 12:03 AM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Somali pirates seizing Indian Ocean ships were responsible for at least 35 hostage deaths in 2011, a report showed on Friday, with levels of violence rising. The number of prisoners taken by pirates fell to 555, at least, in 2011 from 645 in 2010, the report by the U.S.-based One Earth Future foundation and International Maritime Bureau said. Eight were known to have been killed by their captors either during their initial capture or were executed later, it said, with another eight dying of malnutrition or disease. ...

Suu Kyi makes history with UK parliament address

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 11:42 PM PDT

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi delivers an address to both Houses of Parliament, in Westminster Hall, in the Houses of Parliament, central LondonLONDON (Reuters) - Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi became the first non-head of state to address both houses of Britain's parliament on Thursday in a rare honor she used to ask for help in bringing democracy to the former British colony. Cutting a tiny figure in parliament's cavernous and historic Westminster Hall, the 67-year-old Nobel Peace laureate and opposition leader received a standing ovation on arrival, introduced as "the conscience of a country and a heroine for humanity". "We have an opportunity to reestablish true democracy in Burma. ...

Syrian fighter pilot defects to Jordan, gets asylum

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 01:37 PM PDT

People shout slogans in support of Colonel Hamada during a demonstration against Syria's President al-Assad in AmmanAMMAN (Reuters) - A Syrian air force pilot flew his MiG-21 fighter plane over the border to Jordan and was granted political asylum on Thursday, the first defection with a military aircraft since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Colonel Hassan Hamada landed at the King Hussein military air base 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Amman and immediately asked for sanctuary, Jordanian officials told Reuters. "The cabinet has decided to grant the Syrian pilot political asylum upon his request," Jordanian Minister of State for Information Samih al-Maaytah told Reuters. ...

Search resumes for 100 missing in Indian Ocean

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 06:32 PM PDT

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Merchant and navy ships and five aircraft resumed the search for almost 100 people missing in the Indian Ocean a day after a crowded refugee boat capsized between Indonesia and Australia's Christmas Island territory. Australian Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said 110 people had been rescued, including a 13-year-old boy, with three dead bodies pulled from the water, around 200 km north of Christmas Island. Prime Minister Julia Gillard, attending the United Nations Rio summit in Brazil, said she had spoken to Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about the tragedy. ...

Fire sweeps through shantytown of Indian capital

Posted: 22 Jun 2012 12:44 AM PDT

Residents and fire fighters try to douse down the fire at a scrap yard in New Delhi, India, Friday, June 22, 2012. The fire broke out in a scrap yard and adjoining shanty town behind a government hospital in central Delhi Friday morning, fire brigade officials said, the cause of the fire was not known. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)A fire swept through a shantytown Friday morning, sending huge plumes of black smoke rising over the Indian capital.

Huge US, SKorea war games called warning to NKorea

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 11:51 PM PDT

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 19, 2012, a South Korean Air Forces' KF-16 fighter drops bombs during a South Korea-U.S. joint military live-fire drills at Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, South Korea, near the border with the North Korea. The drills were held in a show of combat readiness ahead of the 62nd anniversary of the start of the Korean War on June 25. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)A huge North Korean flag disappeared behind a tower of flames and thick black smoke Friday as South Korean fighter jets and U.S. attack helicopters fired rockets in the allies' biggest joint live-fire drills since the Korean War.

No more victims found after Indonesian plane crash

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 11:02 PM PDT

Indonesian air military personnel carry the coffin of a victim in an Indonesian air force plane crash at Halim Perdanakusuma air base in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, June 22, 2012. Rescuers Friday resumed searching burned-out houses struck by the plane that crashed into the military housing complex and ignited a huge fireball in the capital. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)Rescuers Friday finished searching damaged and burned homes without finding more victims of a military plane crash in Indonesia's capital that killed seven airmen and four people in a house.

Assange: Ecuador asylum bid may not succeed

Posted: 22 Jun 2012 12:53 AM PDT

Police look on as demonstrators protest outside the Ecuadorian embassy, London, Wednesday June 20, 2012. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange entered the embassy Tuesday in an attempt to gain political asylum. Ecuador said Assange would "remain at the embassy, under the protection of the Ecuadorean government" while authorities in the capital, Quito, considered his case. Assange was arrested in London in December 2010 at Sweden's request. Since then he has been fighting extradition to the Scandinavian country, where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sexual assaults on two women in 2010. (AP Photo/Tim Hales)WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange acknowledged Thursday that he doesn't know whether Ecuador will approve his unusual plea for political asylum, as he spent a third night inside the country's London embassy.

90 still missing after boat capsizes off Indonesia

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 10:35 PM PDT

Ships and aircraft were searching Friday for scores of men missing after a steel-hull fishing boat carrying about 200 suspected asylum seekers bound for Australia capsized in heavy seas south of Indonesia.

Cambodia will not extradite Frenchman linked to Bo

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 10:03 PM PDT

Cambodia said Friday it will not extradite a Frenchman it detained for possible involvement in a murder linked to one of China's biggest political scandals in years.

Crashes fuel uproar in Japan over US aircraft

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:57 PM PDT

FILE - In this March 30, 2012 file photo, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, left, talks with his chief of staff Jeremy Bash after landing in an V-22 Osprey at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Recent crashes involving the U.S. military's latest transport aircraft are fueling an uproar in Japan that could threaten plans to deploy them to the southern island of Okinawa by the end of the year. U.S. officials are scheduled to brief Japanese representatives in Washington on Friday, June 22 after Okinawa and another city likely to host the Osprey aircraft became concerned. (AP Photo/Mike Blake, Pool, File)Recent crashes involving the U.S. military's latest transport aircraft are fueling an uproar in Japan that could threaten plans to deploy them to the southern island of Okinawa by the end of the year.

Standoff at Afghan hotel over; Taliban kill 8

Posted: 22 Jun 2012 12:31 AM PDT

Afghan police say Taliban insurgents have killed eight people — half of them civilians — in an attack on a lakeside hotel just north of Kabul.

Mexico marines detain suspected son of drug lord

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:27 PM PDT

A Mexican marine escorts Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, left, during his presentation to the media in Mexico City, Thursday, June 21, 2012. Mexican marines detained Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 26, one of the sons of Mexico's most-wanted drug kingpin, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)Mexican marines on Thursday detained a young man they believe is one of the sons of Mexico's most-wanted drug kingpin, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

AP IMPACT: Syria rebels divided, at times violent

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 01:35 PM PDT

FILE - In this Tuesday, June 12, 2012 file photo, a Syrian revolutionary flag waves on top of a building on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria. During two weeks with rebels in northern Syria, three Associated Press journalists found more than 20 rebel groups who often destroy government army posts and convoys but lack the weapons and unity to do more than gradually chip away at the regime of President Bashar Assad _ a recipe for a long, bloody insurgency.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)Rebel commander Ahmed Eissa al-Sheikh keeps a paper on his desk bearing the names of the dead from his brigade. The first 16 are neatly typed below a Quranic verse extolling martyrdom. The next 14 are handwritten and crammed into the margin, because the paper is full.
Posted by Harshad at 1:18 AM

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