Tuesday, September 11, 2012

China's Xi not seen in public because of ailment: sources

China's Xi not seen in public because of ailment: sources

China's Xi not seen in public because of ailment: sources

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 12:26 AM PDT

Chinese Vice President Xi and the Republic of Korea's Ambassador to China, Lee, cut a cake to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, in BeijingBEIJING (Reuters) - China's top leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping, who has set off a storm of rumors after not showing up at scheduled public events for over a week, is nursing an ailment, possibly a back injury suffered while swimming, sources said on Tuesday. Xi, who is due to take over the presidency of the world's second-largest economy in March next year, has skipped several meetings with visiting foreign leaders and dignitaries over the past week, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the premiers of Singapore and Denmark. ...

Turkey says will not hand over fugitive Iraqi vice president

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 01:04 AM PDT

Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi gestures as he addresses the media in AnkaraISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey will not hand over Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who faces a death sentence against him in Baghdad, and he can remain in Turkey as long as he needs to, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday. "I'll say it very clearly. We will be willing to host Mr. Hashemi as long as he wants, and we will not hand him over," Erdogan told a news conference in the capital Ankara. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Writing by Nick Tattersall, editing by Diana Abdallah)

Japan buys disputed islands, China sends in patrol boats

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 11:54 PM PDT

A demonstrator raises his fist while yelling slogans near other demonstrators and police officers outside the Japanese embassy in BeijingTOKYO (Reuters) - Japan brushed off warnings by China and bought a group of islands on Tuesday that both claim, in a growing dispute that threatens ties between Asia's two biggest economies. Chinese official media said Beijing had sent two patrol ships to waters surrounding the islands to reassert its claim and accused Japan of "playing with fire" over the long-simmering row. Tokyo insisted that it had only peaceful intentions in making the 2.05 billion yen ($26. ...

Rockets hit NATO airbase north of Kabul, killing three Afghan staff

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 01:17 AM PDT

KABUL (Reuters) - Four rockets hit Afghanistan's Bagram airfield, destroying a helicopter belonging to the NATO-led forces and killing three Afghan personnel inside, a spokesman for the coalition said on Tuesday. The attack, which took place at around 10 pm local time on Monday, came on the eve of the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Security across the capital, Kabul, was intensified. Two personnel belonging to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), who were also in the helicopter, were wounded, the spokesman said. ...

Egypt to host regional meeting over Syria crisis

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 10:27 AM PDT

Egypt's President Mursi and VP Mekky meet with the new U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria Brahimi in CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - Officials from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran will meet in Cairo on Monday to discuss the Syrian crisis, but analysts said the regional powers were unlikely to agree on any tangible steps. Iran is a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is fighting an uprising against his rule, while the three other countries have all called for him to quit power. Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran have tussled for influence in recent years in sectarian conflicts across the Middle East. ...

U.S., Israel still at odds over Iran "red line"

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 05:37 PM PDT

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in JerusalemJERUSALEM/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the United States were in talks on setting a "clear red line" for Iran's nuclear program, but the two allies remained at odds on Monday over whether to spell out a clear threshold for military action against Tehran. The Israeli leader, who has been pressing President Barack Obama for a tougher line against Iran, again signaled that a sharper U.S. ultimatum for Tehran could deter it from developing nuclear weapons and mitigate the need for a military response. ...

Occupy Hong Kong activists removed from HSBC's Asia headquarters

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 12:34 AM PDT

A protester from Occupy Central is removed by bailiffs at the HSBC headquarters in Hong KongHONG KONG (Reuters) - Police cleared a few remaining Occupy Hong Kong protesters from an open-air plaza beneath HSBC's Asian headquarters on Tuesday, nearly a year after the anti-capitalists pitched their tents in the heart of Hong Kong's financial district. HSBC obtained permission from a court last month to take back the space after the activists remained beyond an eviction deadline on August 27. At around midday, officers entered the plaza and linked arms to form a human wall around the dozen or so protesters to move them out. ...

Al Qaeda confirms death of bin Laden confidant Libi

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 11:33 PM PDT

Abu Yahya al Libi who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan earlier this weekCAIRO (Reuters) - Al Qaeda confirmed on Tuesday that one of the group's most senior figures, veteran militant Abu Yahya al-Libi, had died in a U.S. drone strike earlier this year. The U.S. government said in June it had killed Libi in Pakistan, dealing the biggest in a series of blows to the group since the raid that killed Osama bin Laden last year. "I proudly announce to the Muslim umma and to the Mujahideen (holy fighters)... ...

Lebanese army frees four Syrian hostages: kidnappers

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 12:50 AM PDT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese security forces freed four Syrian hostages in a raid in Beirut against a powerful Shi'ite clan which kidnapped them last month, a member of the clan said on Tuesday. A Turkish hostage was wounded, and remained in captivity, Maher Meqdad, a spokesman for the Meqdad clan told Reuters. "We were told that the Turk was shot and wounded, either in his chest or shoulder," he said. A security source said four people had been freed in the overnight raid in the south of the Lebanese capital, but did not confirm the report about the Turkish captive. ...

Analysis: Canada may have cut ties with Iran to avoid retaliation

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 01:36 PM PDT

DUBAI/OTTAWA, Sept 10 - Canada's surprise decision to sever relations with Iran may well have been triggered by Ottawa's fear of retaliation for stepping up its denunciations of Tehran and a parallel move to list Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. The break in relations, announced on Friday, has led to speculation that it was a prelude to Israeli or U.S. military action against Iran's nuclear facilities. Canada has categorically denied having any information about planned attacks. ...

A jail for China's elite: better food, beds, cells

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 12:05 AM PDT

In this photo taken Friday, Aug. 31, 2012, satellite dishes are seen along the walls of Qincheng prison in Beijing, China. Tucked in the hills an hour's drive north of Beijing and hidden behind several guarded, unmarked gates, Qincheng Prison has for a half-century housed miscreants from the political elite: purged Communist Party rivals, corrupt politicians, newspaper editors critical of the government, leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement, Chairman Mao's power-hungry widow. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)China's privileged remain privileged even in prison.

Al-Qaida's No. 2 in Yemen killed in airstrike

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 02:21 PM PDT

FILE - In this undated frame grab from video posted on a militant-leaning Web site, and provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, shows Saeed al-Shihri, deputy leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Yemeni officials say a missile believed to have been fired by a U.S. operated drone on Monday has killed al-Qaida's No. 2 leader in Yemen along with five others traveling with him in one car. Al-Qaida's Yemen branch is seen as the world's most active, planning and carrying out attacks against targets in and outside U.S. territory. (AP Photo/SITE Intelligence Group, File) NO SALES. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HAS NO WAY OF INDEPENDENTLY VERIFYING THE CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS VIDEO IMAGEAn airstrike killed al-Qaida's No. 2 leader in Yemen along with six others traveling with him in one car on Monday, U.S. and Yemeni officials said, a major breakthrough for U.S.-backed efforts to cripple the group in the impoverished Arab nation.

China sends patrol ships to islands held by Japan

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 12:42 AM PDT

A territorial flare-up between China and Japan intensified Tuesday as Beijing sent patrol ships near disputed East China Sea islands in a show of anger over Tokyo's purchase of the largely barren outcroppings from their private owners.

Syrian countryside gives vital support to rebels

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 11:24 AM PDT

A Syrian rebel fighter, right, eats while others chat as they wait for transportation to go and fight government forces in Aleppo, at their headquarters in Suran, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Sept. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)When the uprising against President Bashar Assad started, Fatima Zahra gave up her life as a dressmaker in a small town in northern Syria and began cooking and delivering meals for the rebels.

Jolie visits Jordan camp for Syrian refugees

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 12:44 AM PDT

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie, is touring a refugee camp in Jordan for Syrians who fled the civil war in their country.

Experts release list of 100 threatened species

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 11:54 PM PDT

In this undated photo released by the Zoological Society of London, the Tarzan's chameleon is shown. International conservation groups have unveiled a list of the earth's most threatened 100 animals, plants and fungi and say urgent action is needed to protect them. The groups identified the species Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012, in a report presented to a global conservation forum on the southern South Korean island of Jeju. The species live in 48 countries and include the Tarzan's chameleon, the spoon-billed sandpiper and the pygmy three-toed sloth. (AP Photo/The Zoological Society of London, Frank Gaw) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALESInternational conservation groups have unveiled a list of the earth's most threatened 100 animals, plants and fungi and say urgent action is needed to protect them.

Somalia elects a new president

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 01:54 PM PDT

Somalia's new president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a political newcomer, speaks at a ceremony after being elected by the Parliament over outgoing President Sheik Sharif Sheikh Ahmed who conceded defeat, in Mogadishu, Somalia Monday, Sept. 10, 2012. Somalia's Parliament elected a new president of the country's fledgling government Monday, a move that members of the international community say is a key step toward the east African nation's transition from a war-torn failed state to a nation with an effective government. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)Somalia's Parliament elected a new president of the country's fledgling government Monday, a move that members of the international community say is a key step toward the east African nation's transition from a war-torn failed state to a nation with an effective government.

US, Afghans locked in dispute over detainees

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 10:15 AM PDT

An Afghan soldier, right, escorts a released prisoner, Mohammad Karim, following a hand over ceremony of U.S.- run prison to Afghan government in Bagram north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 10, 2012. U.S. officials handed over formal control of Afghanistan's only large-scale U.S.-run prison to Kabul on Monday, even as disagreements between the two countries over the thousands of Taliban and terror suspects held there marred the transfer. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)President Hamid Karzai welcomed Monday's handover of the main American-run prison to Afghan forces as a victory for Afghan sovereignty, though he and U.S. officials remain locked in a dispute over the fate of hundreds of Taliban and terror suspects behind bars.

French tycoon's threat shakes Socialist tax plan

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 10:22 AM PDT

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2009 file photo, Bernard Arnault. Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the Paris-based luxury goods empire, presents the group's 2008 results in Paris. La Libre Belgique newspaper reported Saturday Sept.8, 2012 that Arnault's citizenship application was confirmed by the head of Belgium's naturalization office. French media drew a connection to French President Francois Hollande's plan to raise the tax rate on France's highest earners to 75 percent. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)Bernard Arnault — the richest man in Europe — has ignited an uproar in France over taxes, citizenship, patriotism and what policies the government needs to promote growth.

9th prisoner dies at Guantanamo; cause under study

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 02:53 PM PDT

Another prisoner has died at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the U.S. military said Monday, two days after the man was apparently found unconscious in his cell at the isolated, high-security prison.
Posted by Harshad at 1:41 AM

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