Monday, September 24, 2012

Japan protests as Chinese ships enter disputed waters

Japan protests as Chinese ships enter disputed waters

Japan protests as Chinese ships enter disputed waters

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:24 AM PDT

A Chinese marine surveillance cruises next to a Japan Coast Guard patrol ship in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku isles in Japan and Diaoyu islands in ChinaTOKYO (Reuters) - Three Chinese ships briefly entered what Japan considers its territorial waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea on Monday, prompting an official protest from Tokyo and renewed diplomatic efforts to cool tensions between the rivals. In a move that could further complicate the territorial row that is threatening relations between Asia's biggest economies, a group of fishermen from Taiwan -- which also claims the rocky isles -- said as many as 100 boats escorted by 10 Taiwan Coast Guard vessels would arrive in the area later on Monday. ...

China closes in on Bo Xilai after jailing ex-police chief

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 10:35 PM PDT

Still image of former police chief Wang speaking during a court hearing in ChengduBEIJING (Reuters) - China's ruling Communist Party took a big step towards sealing the fate of fallen politician Bo Xilai on Monday, when a court jailed his former police chief for 15 years over charges that indicated Bo tried to derail a murder inquiry. The court in Chengdu in southwest China handed down the sentence against Wang Lijun after finding him guilty on four charges, including seeking to cover up the November 2011 murder of a British businessman, Neil Heywood, by Bo's wife, Gu Kailai. ...

Floods, landslides displace 1 million in India; 33 dead

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:53 AM PDT

Flood affected victim puts goats on raft made from banana trees outside her flooded hut at Lachi Bishnupur villageGUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - Floods and landslides caused by relentless rain in northeast India have killed at least 33 people and displaced more than a million over the past week, officials said on Monday. At least 21 people were killed in landslides and another eight were missing in the mountainous state of Sikkim, said state government spokesman A.S. Tobgay. In Assam, still recovering from deadly floods that hit the tea-growing state in July, eight people were killed and 20 were missing, police said. ...

Kazakh leader appoints PM as chief of staff

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 01:23 AM PDT

Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Masimov inspects an honour guard during an official welcoming ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in BeijingALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's powerful president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, appointed his long-serving prime minister as chief of staff on Monday in a move to balance the rival groups vying for influence in the oil-producing former Soviet state. Karim Masimov, 47, was selected by Nazarbayev to run his presidential office after serving nearly six years as premier of Central Asia's largest economy, a period of sustained economic growth and billions of dollars in foreign investment. The Nazarbayev loyalist replaces Aslan Musin, who was appointed head of the budgetary accounts committee. ...

Rescuers search for missing climbers after Nepal avalanche

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 10:28 PM PDT

Rescue team members carry a tourist after an avalanche at Mount Manaslu Base CampKATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali rescue helicopters searched on Monday for at least three foreign climbers missing on a Himalayan mountain after a weekend avalanche swept away camps and killed 11 people in the worst such disaster in nearly two decades. Seven French climbers were among the 11 victims of the avalanche that struck their camp on Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest mountain at 8,163 meters (26,781 feet). Two German climbers and one each from Spain and Nepal also died. Helicopters brought back five climbers from their base camp to Kathmandu on Sunday. ...

Ex-Iran president's son returns from exile, faces charges

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 11:38 PM PDT

DUBAI (Reuters) - The son of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani returned to Iran from exile to answer charges of inciting unrest after a disputed election in 2009, fuelling speculation that Rafsanjani's influence in Tehran may once again be growing. Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani arrived in Tehran late on Sunday, Fars news agency reported, having spent three years in the United Kingdom following his alleged involvement in the widespread protests that followed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. ...

Turkey pro-Kurd party urges talks to end Kurdish conflict

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 01:04 AM PDT

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The head of Turkey's main Kurdish party has called for talks between the government and Kurdish militants to prevent a further escalation of violence which she said could undermine efforts to draw up a new, more liberal constitution. More than 700 people have been killed since elections in June 2011, according to the International Crisis Group, the highest toll in a 15-month period since Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) chief Abdullah Ocalan was captured and jailed in 1999. ...

Turkey clips military's wings in landmark verdict

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 10:11 PM PDT

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The jailing of hundreds of Turkish army officers including top generals accused of plotting to topple Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan underscored how far he has come in gaining control of the country's once all-powerful military. But Erdogan, 10 years in power, must grapple with suspicions among critics and even some sympathizers that he is using this and other coup investigations to silence opposition as he sets about taming a militant secularist establishment. Far from flinching, he may seek more power in a revamped presidency. ...

Exclusive: North Korea plans agriculture reforms

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 03:16 PM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea plans to allow farmers to keep more of their produce in an attempt to boost agricultural output, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said, in a move that could boost supplies, help cap rising food prices and ease malnutrition. The move to liberalize agriculture under new leader Kim Jong-un, who took office in December 2011 after the death of his father, would reverse a crackdown on private production that started in 2005. It comes amid talk that the youngest Kim to rule the impoverished North is considering reforms to boost the economy. ...

Ex-top cop in China scandal jailed for 15 years

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 09:05 PM PDT

This Sept. 18, 2012 video image taken from CCTV shows Wang Lijun speaking during his trial at the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province. A Chinese court will announce a verdict Monday, Sept. 24, 2012 for the ex-police chief at the center of a seamy political scandal that has buffeted China's leadership. (AP Photo/CCTV via AP video) CHINA OUT, TV OUTThe Chinese police chief whose thwarted defection exposed murder and infighting in high places was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday, setting the stage for China's leadership to close out the divisive scandal and move ahead with a generational handover of power.

Israeli court to sentence ex-PM Olmert

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 01:12 AM PDT

An Israeli court is expected to sentence former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a high-profile case that could determine whether he will be able to return to politics.

Israel's only co-ed combat unit proves its worth

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 11:46 PM PDT

FILE - In this Dec. 20, 2006, file photo Israeli soldiers listen to their commander as they prepare for a march near Ein Yahav in southern Israel. A deadly shootout along Israel's border with Egypt on Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 has shone a spotlight on Israel's only mixed female and male combat unit, granting some recognition to a group that has faced much skepticism and often been the butt of jokes since its inception. Friday's attack was a major test for the Caracal Battalion, which is used to more tame operations, and the soldiers' participation was credited with helping to slay the three gunmen. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)A deadly shootout last week along Israel's border with Egypt has shined a spotlight on Israel's only mixed female and male combat unit, granting some recognition to a group that has faced much skepticism and often been the butt of jokes since its inception.

In Europe crisis, connection culture stifles youth

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:19 AM PDT

Maria Adele Carrai of Italy poses in Central, Hong Kong, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. Maria Adele Carrai has two master degrees from Italian universities in economics and Asian languages and is now earning her PhD in international law in Hong Kong. Her linguist credentials are formidable: besides native Italian, they include nearly flawless English, a rarity in Italy; French, Arabic, Japanese and now Mandarin. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)Maria Adele Carrai has two master degrees from Italian universities in economics and Asian languages and is now earning her PhD in international law in Hong Kong. Her linguistic credentials are formidable: Besides native Italian, she has nearly flawless English, a rarity in Italy, as well as French, Arabic, Japanese and Mandarin.

New SARS-like virus detected in Middle East

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:02 AM PDT

British health authorities have alerted the U.N. of a new respiratory virus in a severely ill patient from Qatar.

Report: Yemeni women worse off after revolution

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:27 AM PDT

Protestors chant slogans during a rally to commemorate the one year anniversary of the people who were killed in clashes with Yemeni government forces in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012. Yemeni government forces opened fire with anti-aircraft guns and automatic weapons on tens of thousands of protesters in the capital one year ago pushing for ouster of longtime ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh, killing several people and wounding dozens. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)Women in Yemen are worse off now than a year ago, when they played a significant part in the country's revolution that promised political and economic change, an international aid agency has concluded.

Belarus elects parliament in tainted vote

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 10:50 PM PDT

Authorities in Belarus say that all but one of the 110 seats in parliament have been assigned after elections that critics of the vote say were tainted by improbably high turnout figures.

Kazakhstan's long-serving prime minister resigns

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:08 AM PDT

The prime minister of Kazakhstan resigned Monday after leading the oil-rich Central Asian nation for more than five years and shepherding its economy through the global financial crisis.

Avalanche on Nepal peak kills at least 9 climbers

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:35 AM PDT

In this photo provided by Nepalese airline Simrik Air, an injured victim, center, of an avalanche is rescued at the base camp of Mount Manaslu in northern Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012. The avalanche swept away climbers on a Himalayan peak in Nepal on Sunday, leaving at least nine dead and six others missing, officials said. (AP Photo/Simrik Air)Rescue helicopters flew over the high slopes of a northern Nepal peak again Monday to search for climbers lost in an avalanche that killed at least nine mountaineers and injured others. Many of the climbers were French, German and Italian.

Pakistan disowns bounty on anti-Islam filmmaker

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:54 AM PDT

Pakistani Shiite Muslim women chant anti U.S. slogans during a demonstration that is part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012 in Lahore, Pakistan. The woman, center, wear a banner that reads, The Pakistani government on Monday distanced itself from an offer by one of its Cabinet ministers to pay $100,000 for anyone who kills the maker of an anti-Islam film, saying the offer does not represent official government policy.
Posted by Harshad at 1:40 AM

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